Painted Furniture

Antiques fair comes to townAntiques buffs won't want to miss the Baltimore Summer Antiques Fair next weekend. And anyone looking for unusual decorative accessories or gifts will find many small objects priced under $100.This is the 15th year for the antiques fair, to be held at the Convention Center Sept. 1-3. Dealers from 32 states as well as Canada and Europe will be showing and selling furniture, both formal and country; crystal and art glass; silver; toys; collectibles; Oriental rugs; and much more.

The revival of interest in faux and decoratively painted furniture has gone on too long for it to be considered merely a fad. It's time, therefore, to offer some thoughts on how such pieces should -- and should not -- be used in the home.This is one of those instances in which it's best to be bold. Painted furniture can certainly serve as the focal point for an entire room.I'm not suggesting, however, that pieces of this sort should simply be plunked down in the living room with no concern as to whether they mesh with the overall design.

Even the laziest gardener knows he has to rake a few leaves this time of year. The Landscape Contractors Association, a nonprofit trade organization, offers these tips for those of you who want to do a little more:* October is a great time to plant new shrubs and trees.* Water new plantings regularly, even though days are cool.* Dig up gladiolas after the first frost, cut stems 2 to 3 inches above the corm, dry and store.* Plant spring flowering bulbs. Use a bulb starter fertilizer and mulch lightly.

This weekend take the time for a leisurely drive to enjoy the fall foliage -- and a house tour. Here are two suggestions:* The 39th annual Potomac Country House Tour will showcase five exceptional homes next Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Call (301) 365-2055 for information.* The Harford County Chapter of AMC Cancer Research Center's decorator show house will be open through Oct. 2. The Homestead, located at 221 Linwood Ave. in Bel Air, features the work of over 20 designers and artisans, including such well-known ones as Alexander Baer and Associates.

Spattering, sponging and foam-stamping can be as much fun as finger painting. Decorative paint techniques are just as playful, especially on a child's furnishings.These and other do-it-yourself touches give plain furniture pizazz. By adding a splash of color and a -- of detail, they jazz up a setting for someone young.Detailed with paint, furniture acts as a canvas for myriad designs. If parent and child pool their decorative ideas, the result is bound to be meaningful.Because growing up means growing into different looks, it's wise to consider furniture for a child's room that easily changes face.

What accounts for the staying power of certain throwback decorating trends? It may well be a collective craving for the look of longevity.What many of us are after is a decorating style that suggests permanence and rootedness. Socially footloose and financially fancy-free in the '80S, lots of us are now hunkering down, digging in and taking stock. Bombarded daily by the fallout from economic uncertainty, political and cultural turmoil, marriage, parenthood and careers, we're putting a real premium on stability, reliability and trustworthiness.

Baltimore's in the grip of a furniture fad. It's hip, it's happenin', it's now. And it's been that way for nearly 200 years.The fad is for painted furniture -- chairs with gilt filigree on arms and legs and landscapes in medallions on the crest rails, tables with compass stars on top, sofas with shields and arrows on wood framing, end tables with scenes of Mount Vernon, a wardrobe painted to look like a bank building, a child's chair and desk with every...

Have you ever fallen in love with an object seen in a museum? You wish you could own it, but you assume that if a museum displays it, you could never afford it.Usually you're right. But that is not necessarily the case with furniture made in Baltimore in the early 19th century.There is much of this furniture to salivate over at area museums. In fact, more American furniture and related decorative arts from the 1800-1845 period are now on display in Baltimore than ever before assembled in one city.

There's painted furniture, and then there's painted furniture.To some, it's simply a matter of giving a new look to an old but still-functional table or chair. Those of us familiar with the history of the decorative arts know, however, that painted furniture can be much more than the result of a spruce-up.For centuries, woodcarvers and cabinet makers have further embellished their creations with decorative designs in paint. Examples of this art form can be found in many parts of Asia and continental Europe as well as in England.

If there's anybody out there who doesn't know about Tom Miller's wonderful painted furniture, run right to Steven Scott Gallery and make its acquaintance. That is, if you can get in, because all those who do know about Miller's work will probably be there already.Painted furniture had a great tradition in Baltimore in the 19th century, and the best of it was as high style as Baltimore ever got. Miller has turned the tables on this tradition by taking articles of already-made furniture and decorating them with partly deco-inspired but thoroughly original designs in the brightest of colors.