Honest opinions wanted - good or bad!

[Tom]

Hi all

Here's a picture of my Rayburn surround, which I've just given 2 coats of Liberon Clear Liquid Wax. I'm guessing that this wood is Pine (I'm no wood expert!). Anyway, whatever it is, it doesn't match any wood anywhere else in the house. Everything else, carriage beams, joists, lintels, doors etc are Oak of varying shades. So I'm wondering, do I leave this as it is and accept its beauty (is it beautiful?) for what it is? Or, should I now give it another coat of wax in, say, Dark Oak to blend it in with the rest of the wood? From my own point of view, I don't normally like Pine but I kind of like this in it's own right. However, I'm torn with the fact that it's on its own in a house full of Oak.

So, do you like it? Hate it? Would you leave it as is or darken it down? Or would you remove it or paint it? I'd like to get as many honest opinions as possible....whether they're good or bad. I promise i won't fall out with anyone if they don't like it

Oh, and can someone confirm what wood it is, please? Thanks

 

[Flyfisher]

This is probably not going to help you very much but why bother about what others think?

If, as you say, you like it as a piece on its own (and it looks quite impressive to me) then just keep it and enjoy it.

 

[biffvernon]

I kind of like this in it's own right.

That's what counts.

Yes, it is a pine.

 

[Tom]

Hi FF and thanks for your reply. I think I'm bothered because I wonder if it's one of those things that I've lived with it for so long as it is, I'm probably just used to it, whereas fresh eyes will see it differently. I may be thinking it looks ok but actually it might look awful. At this stage of our renovation I'd hate to leave something that's glaringly wrong, particularly as it's such a big feature (or not!!). Am I making sense.....or just rambling? :roll: :lol:

Jaqy

 

[skier-hughes]

At this stage of our renovation I'd hate to leave something that's glaringly wrong, particularly as it's such a big feature (or not!!). :roll: :lol:

Jaqy

What is right?
For what period in time?

It does look quite stark on first viewing, but I guess like many of the things in my own house I'd also get used to it. If you replaced it with Oak, it'd look very similar in colour, check out my past pictures, I have beams that colour and the colour of your old ones next to each other and when we first put them in I thought....... errrggggghh, but now they are there and I've gotten used to them they are good.

That's quite an expanse of wood, it'd be very costly in Oak and a fairly tricky task which might just cause more problems than it solves. My vote would be to leave it be.

 

[Matt Green]

Needs horse brasses. :mrgreen:

 

[Michelle73]

Matt, you just posted reply 75,000 - wonder if you win anything?!!

I like the wood, it looks very rot free and dry

 

[skier-hughes]

Maybe you will Michelle for being geeky enough to notice the fact

 

[DaveBrigg]

I would leave it. It's a lot easier to eventually decide to stain or replace it, than change it now and then decide that you want the original back. I'm guessing that you can probably find something else to keep you busy until you are sure what to do.

 

[Feltwell]

I think it looks fine. It'll darken with time as well.

I suspect that trying to alter it's colour with a coloured wax won't work very well. Our pine bed (how 80's!) is now very nice and mellow, it's darkened down and looks quite old. It's only ever had a clear wax on it. A friend, who had one made at the same time by the same carpenter, bitterly regrets using a coloured wax now - it looks false.

If it really bugs you that it doesn't match the oak then paint it so it doesn't matter. It's not original? Well neither is the Rayburn, nor the copper pipe running up the wall behind it - but the Rayburn looks fine, the copper pipe will soon tarnish and dull down, and if it bugs you Screwfix sell brass pipe clips to replace the white plastic one!

 

[Tom]

Oh my goodness...so many replies!!

Biff, you say it is 'a' pine. Do you know what sort of pine? Is this what people call pitch pine? In which case, this is considered to be desirable?

Skier-hughes, yes you're right...what is right? Oh, I'm so confused! It wouldn't actually be a massive task to replace it. It's not load bearing, the bricks above could easily be re-done. I do have green oak elsewhere and it's already gone very dark. In fact, the huge lintel above the adjacent window is green oak and has only been in for 4 years. This surround has been in for about 2 years and shows no sign of darkening. I think it's the orangey colour I hate!!

Matt Green, you're a heathen...horse brasses, indeed!! :roll:

Michelle73, well it's certainly rot free and dry...maybe I should just be grateful for that!! At least with all the oak around it'll probably never end up as lunch for DWB's :lol: :lol: :lol:

DaveBrigg, yes you're right. To go to all the trouble of changing it and then not really gaining anything or, worse still, hating the replacement would be rather stupid. And, yes, I have plenty of other things to be doing :roll:

Feltwell, thanks for the advice re coloured waxes. That's probably saved me from making a very bad mistake! No, it's not original, we put it in. Unfortunately, I seem to have the only pieces of copper pipe in the world that refuse to tarnish!! And the bl**dy white pipe clips p*ss me off every time I look at them!! Unfortunately, they're screwed to the wall and I can't remove them...but they WILL be painted...or something! They're not even necessary :evil:

I think Feltwell maybe right about painting the surround. Of course, I'll have to remove the wax I've just put on :roll: What about limewashing it to tone the orange down. What's anyone think of that as an idea?

Jaqy

 

[Feltwell]

Matt Green, you're a heathen...horse brasses, indeed!! :roll:
Jaqy

3 ceramic flying ducks nailed across the top section would distract the eye away from the orange colour ...... :wink:

 

[Tom]

You see, I knew one of you would come up with the right solution!!! I've never been let down by this group yet :lol:

Jaqy

 

[worms]

Jaqy,

Obviously all a matter of taste but I guess the real question is how the treatment, that you are doing to it now, will affect the ageing of it. In my taste spectrum, I would draw a distinction between the way old pine beams look (normally untouched since the day they were put in and an old-wood gray colour) versus the 1970's pine kitchen that was white when new but has gone an unnatural orange colour under the varnish.

I'm sure others on here will be able to advise on what long-term effect the Liberon wax will have and whether you want to keep refreshing that or stop now and leave it to dry and age.

 

[Wren]

I think all options are more than OK including how it is now (which also has the benefit that there is no more work to be done). So it is personal preference, very marginal, and with no right or wrong answer.

I think the important thing is to visualise how the whole kitchen will look eventually which you will have a better idea on. If it was my kitchen (and importantly it isn't) my initial reaction is that I might have been tempted to paint the surround using a not too dark neutral-ish colour. The logic being that there are plenty of very attractive focal points which you want to emphasise - the gorgeous cooker, amazing beams and the window - and you want the eye to go straight to them (with the surround playing a supporting role).
But again it really depends what you are doing elsewhere in the kitchen with other furniture etc. If you keep the surround as pine then one idea might be to have something else which is pine (e.g. an antique pine cupboard) without going over the top matchy matchy. I say that because a bit of pine can give a homely feel which is no bad thing in a kitchen and a nice antidote to the relentless minimalism which is the current fashion.
Another thought to add into the mix - in my kitchen I wanted to add one blast of full-on colour, so to call attention to my red cooker set in a stone fireplace I painted the wall behind the cooker (ie at the back of the fireplace) bright yellow. I don't think this would work with a black cooker, but if you are someone who likes liven things up with a bit of colour then you could paint the inside of the fireplace opening with something that plays to the both the cooker and the wood surround and joins it all together. Nice dilemma to have.

 

[biffvernon]

Biff, you say it is 'a' pine. Do you know what sort of pine?

No. It might not even be a pine but a fir. Botany over cyberspace is rather tricky but it certainly come from a conifer tree, a 'softwood'. You can tell by the grain spacing and size of knots. To determine quite what species you'd have to look at the real thing and even then it can be pretty difficult.

 

[Lime]

If this were the 60s I'd suggest painting it brilliant white or covering it with fablon or both in any order.

 

[greentree]

IMHO, i think you should remove the wax from it totally and wire wool the timber and then dye the wood a darker colour to something nearer the colour of your oak beams - and then buff it with some clear wax - it will then blend in better

 

[Schoolmarm]

Jaqy, what are your kitchen units going to be? I would paint it the same colour if you are having painted ones. It would look fab.

Not too keen on that shade of wood.

 

[JoceAndChris]

My first partner (in the van!) was a pine restorer, the finish he got on antique pine was unbelievable. He'd spend months of evenings buffing and rewaxing a single item and create a patina in 6 months that'd look like 10 years: a real labour of love on each piece. (he did it for a friend who had a very posh antique shop in Stamford, and didn't make any profit out of it I hasten to add) Now and again he'd rub in a bit of ash, or make a tiny hole by hammering in the tip of a nail. Fakery, but lovely. He always used Briwax dark brown. Now that was beautiful pine.

However, given the laboriousness of waxing, and how much you have to do (and I really think waxing only starts to look good after many, many coats and persistent soft rubbing), I'd paint it to match you kitchen, or something else in the room.