Pickled pine furniture?

[Orchidflower]

I used to work for a lady who had her entire office in pickled pine furniture. She had great taste, and it was really well done; so, thinking you can find a great selection from America on the net of pickled pine furniture, I dug into the computer and, surprisingly, am ultimately not finding all that much. It seems as if pickled pine is really a whitewash finish that many must do themselves on bare pine wood. True? Or not?
Is there some American company that anyone knows of from first-hand purchase or experience that specializes in pickled pine furniture? It appears many of the companies are either in England or Canada on the net.
The only conclusion I can seem to come to is that this pickled pine furniture is not a popular type in America as it seems pretty hard to find a good selection of it. So, does anyone know about pickled pine furniture here?
And, since this is basically made of pine, is it very hardy? I've always thought of pine as the poor man's wood, but maybe I'm wrong.

[Martha]

I think pickling was more popular 20, 25 years ago. What I understood was that you either used a white stain or thinned white paint so it worked like a stain. In the early 80s I used to like refinishing furniture and I "pickled" a kitchen table. I liked it for a couple years and then kind of tired of it.

[WhoDaresWins]

I have a mix of woods at home, but I love old pine furniture. You are right, it is rustic, farmhouse style. I have a very old pine corner cupboard that my Dad bought for five bucks right after WW II. I think it dates from about 1850. Some very old homes in the South have heart of pine flooring, and it is stunning. And a very hard wood understand. I can't recall seeing pickled pine recently. You could probably do a few pieces yourself if you buy from an unfinished furniture store and get the proper solutions and paints from them.

[Orchidflower]

I'm not "in the loop" insofar as interior decorating--altho I love watching the HGTV decorating shows; so, I had no idea pickled pine was not around. And it was about 25-30 years ago when I was in that lady's office. Well, it was pretty enough that I never forgot it. Wonder why it hasn't caught on and stayed?
If you have an old piece from 1850, I surely hope you keep it and pass that puppy down. Wow, lucky you! (Big antique buff here!)

[W2R]

I am so ignorant - - I don't even know what pickled pine is. I have a lot of 1970's furniture in my house, that is painted in a way to make it look older due to the mottling of the paint. Is that what it is?

[REWahoo]

I think pickled furniture went out of style because it was so difficult to find those large jars...

[Bestwifeever]

I wonder if the Aeron chair comes in a pickled pine model.

[Martha]

You guys are too funny.

[WhoDaresWins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever I wonder if the Aeron chair comes in a pickled pine model.

Ha, ha! Yes! I would definitely have to have one of those. Or instead of graphite gray maybe a nice teal Aeron.

[Martha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire I am so ignorant - - I don't even know what pickled pine is. I have a lot of 1970's furniture in my house, that is painted in a way to make it look older due to the mottling of the paint. Is that what it is?

No, it just has a light whitish finish, so you can still see the grain of the wood easily. Usually was done to pine or oak.

[Moemg]

I have also refinished furniture and the best thing to use are ( Rich & Meadh do not turn me in to the hospital police ) surgical lap sponges . They have the perfect texture . I paint a finish on ,wipe it off so it is diluted and wipe on a stain and voila great looking furniture .

[Disappointed]

There was a company called Link Taylor (I hope I spelled it correclty) that used to make traditional style furniture in pine and sort of like pickled pine but not heavily pickled, subtle white, I believe they were bought out and no longer in business under LT. I bought a bedroom set from a place called Antique Trader in Venice California about 25 years ago.

Their stuff were quite expensive, they were not solid pine but pine veneered. You would think that pine is and was inexpensive and one would expect solid pine to be used in such furniture. I think pine may not hold its shape (wood warp) as it ages and other wood is used as a base instead of solid pine.

For antique pine furniture from England see "The Pine Mine" on Melrose Ave., L.A.,CA (I hope they are still in business as I have not been to their store in a long time) or Pine Trader in Santa Barbara, CA. You can google those two. Real antique pine furniture are very hard to find these days, lots of pieces are being sold as antique but are actually newly made at the stores from old wood. These real English antique pieces are made of solid pine. They aged quite beautifully, extremely expensive. Lots of them were painted originally to hide the fact that they were made of pine wood, these antique dealers would strip the paint and wax them to reveal the beautifully aged pine wood.

mP
California: LINK TAYLOR SOLID OAK CREDENZA / BUFFET / SERVER - CalSwap

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Furniture Info Exchange: Re: Link Taylor Furniture

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha No, it just has a light whitish finish, so you can still see the grain of the wood easily. Usually was done to pine or oak.

Thanks! I guess mine is not pickled pine, then. You can see the grain, and the china cabinet and buffet are white, but the bedroom set is forest green (and you can still see the grain). There is what I suppose is some mechanical artificial aging that has been done with little holes and dents, and also the paint is mottled. Oh well! And here I thought I had something cool enough to be described by a term ("pickled pine"). I like the look, but I will probably donate it to charity when I move.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire I am so ignorant - - I don't even know what pickled pine is.

Make that 2 in the dark.
I learned something new today...
Pickled Wood Finish

THe only refinishing I've done is tung oil finish on a china cabinet. I bought it for $75 at a "moving out of house to NH" sale in the 80s. It was painted solid white, but the owner's daughter said it was "some kind of fruit wood" underneath. Her mom had gotten really upset at her dad when he painted it for her as a surprise.
DING DING DING
I had it stripped and lo and behold, there was gorgous blond cherry underneath. The guy who did the stripping said it was worth at least $1500 (1980s) and wanted to buy it. Sorry
I still have it.

[WhoDaresWins]

Orchidflower---in answer to passing down antiques...I would like nothing better. My son is a bachelor and lives very sparsely. He won't let me give him anything. I think his tastes(if he bought anything, which he doesn't, other than computer stuff and video games) runs to the modern. I am going to a big antiques show this week-end with a young co-worker. She has a large, old house and wants advice furnishing it. I am only too delighted to accompany her and give my opinion. I am going to try hard not to buy anything myself.