I think it is awesome to give a piece of furniture a new life. It is sometimes a bit daunting to take a paint brush to a piece made from genuine old timber but if you are going to get many more years of life and enjoyment out of it I think it is better than dumping it. I believe it shows your love. jbof4 I started with a heat gun to remove most of the many layers of paint, (some are easier than others to strip this way). Then I used an orbital sander and sanded and sanded and sanded. You might also try liquid paint stripper although I find this very messy. I believe you can also get them professionally stripped. Good luck with the resurrection, go for it what have you got to lose.

Hello Lisa..thanks for your comments - so kind of you. The pictures are not good (sorry) and to be honest whilst I'm renovating I don't have the courage the post much at all ..well at least until it's finished but here are a few enclosed. My real idea is to get a discussion going that we might all enjoy. and yes how light strikes (as in angle?) can impact on even the paint colour etc. I see so many questions from readers about wallpaper paint colour etc and yet experts and skilled people such as yourself will know that it's the cohesion that has to work and light can play such a huge part. A wallpaper can be purchased and then prove disappointing if used in different a light as can paint - which is why we use your good services where possible! I've a pile of boards each with different colours (I use linen style artists boards as I can shift them around - I leave a white border on them to allow a suitable contrast) The small bedroom picture with the striped curtains was more to show that curtain colour - it's now blended with duck egg blue paint (sorry it's a New Zealand company called Resene's so it won't be known of there but called Robin's Egg Blue), ivory carpets which I had edged in a green/blue wool. Before these drapes (Laura Ashley) were in a different room and just didn't work. The bedroom hasn't been finished (See? I'm still a tad embarrassed) but I mentioned these as with incandescent lights this curtain colour did not work at all. Taking my courage in both hands and uploading a picture of the main living area which is to be painted next to do away with the strong saturated green..very dark and gloomy as the natural light is very limited. Hoping you can't see the paint splotches on the wall. Another lesson I learned is to paint a surface white and THEN paint the choices. If we don't do this the original surface colour 'bleeds'. So I really hope to have others including myself recognise that we have to have one eye to the climate and outdoor colours all the time as well as the same paint colour possibly being different from room to room. Regards...and thank you once again for taking the time to reply.

go to www.etsy.com and check out HAND made items by artists and crafts people. You never know what you will find and it is very, very fun to look and learn about the incredible things people fabricate. One nice item that comes to mind that I have seen on Etsy are "Beach blankets". I did not know about them because, I've never lived by water or the beach but, apparently if you live by water you always want a big, light weight fabric to use to sit on or to stretch on poles to shield you from too, much sun. I f there was a big "beach blanker" that you liked enough, it could be in your room as an extra blanket, throw or as a window covering perhaps. This would be a good way to remind yourself about your love of the water and surfing and the beach. https://www.etsy.com/shop/AMIZANTI?section_id=6832219&ref=shopsection_leftnav_3. Maybe this is kind of an exotic option for you at your age but, I think its never too, soon to attune ourselves to culture and the arts and interesting ideas from across the world. Also, on Etsy (not bedding) are wall murals. My client's son Max wanted to feel part of the woods so, I found and he and his dad installed an incredible mural. So, that might be fun for you to explore too. I am showing the one they picked here. We did not stick to any kind of bedding collection. Instead we bought a big combination of Max's favorite "Forest Colors". See bed picture for example. Think outside the box, have fun!

The subway sign is great - but it has the scale you need on the higher wall - and the black next to tv could have better balance .. .Consider . .I would center this under the beam on the big wall at the near end of the sofa - then you will start with better balance. The television is a big black square so might as well start with the black element across. Unless you can get a mirror across from the window to reflect something light and pretty, don't bother with a mirror here. Let's think about the wall with the small window and the black tv like a gallery wall - lots of black and white frames , contrasted with black and white mats and mostly graphic black and white art. Here's the way to do that on a budget. Visit the local thrift store and imagine frames they have painted black or white. Ignore what is in them, buy craft paint and paint them all. Ikea is also good for black and white frames. Perhaps one art piece would be an offcenter b&w blow up of that charming fellow who wanted in the picture - soften everything else back and highlight just the face and hand in a vertical mini-panorama format .. or another close cropped on the face black and white in an unposed moment like you caught here. Most of the rest . simple art. Picasso line art poster could be a big scale budget element. You might buy a bad painting at the thrift store or swap meet, paint soft pale gray all over it, then dry brush some white paint on to it. If you use color in the gallery art at all . . . use just one, and I suggest the either the blue gray / true blues / not blue greens that the chaise gives off in the sunlight. Or red. Or yellow. ONLY ONE COLOR. And, just a small touch. You can frame some objects that you've painted one shadow box frame with a real object in it. , some magazine pages, some calendar art, etc. (oversized frames), Look at potterybarn.com for gallery wall advice or on younghouselove.com in their archives .. they have some terrific posts. http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/04/its-done-and-we-heart-it/ If you can, eventually hang the television on the wall above the cabinet on a swing arm so it can pull out and angle but it can be put away flat and you can shift the media cabinet sort of centered on the sofa placement across so it isn't so tight in the corner. TV in corner pulled out good, media always there . . not so good. Now for walls - I love the window layout in here. Would you consider a large landscape oriented abstract canvas that expresses your color sense over the rest of the sofa? Take the arcing airplanes into the gallery layout. This is a great lounge!