The Process – From Existing Furniture to Personal Furniture Art
At by Laden, each piece begins as an existing item of craftsmanship, transformed through a careful and sensory process into furniture art and hand-painted, unique pieces. The process is guided by the form, history and potential of the object and evolves through a dialogue of colour, expression and detail.
Here you gain insight into how an existing piece is transformed into personal furniture art – with respect for craftsmanship, materials and the life it will become part of.
This piece was found in a second-hand shop. It carried clear traces of a previous life and a form that still held strong potential. It was not a piece that demanded attention, but one that revealed itself over time.
Despite signs of earlier restoration, the original craftsmanship was still present. It was clear that the piece had once been carefully made – and worth transforming into furniture art.
Here you can follow the process, from the moment the furniture arrives in the workshop.
Disassembly and Reconstruction
The piece is taken apart into its individual elements, allowing joints and construction to be examined with care and full overview. It is in this phase that the foundation for the piece’s continued life is established, where stability and function are restored with respect for the original craftsmanship. Here, the craft once again takes the lead, forming the basis for the furniture art that will later emerge as part of a new, unified whole.
In this case, the piece was overall in good condition, and most joints had retained their strength over time. It was primarily the back that required careful restoration, where selected joints were reinforced and adjusted. The work is carried out with precision and sensitivity, ensuring that the construction once again appears stable, balanced and ready to become part of a new furniture art piece with both structure and presence.
The work in this phase is not about altering the original structure, but about ensuring that it can sustain a new life – both in function and expression. It is a quiet and essential stage where the existing piece is strengthened and refined, allowing it to carry the transformation into hand-painted, unique furniture art with lasting quality and character.
Preparation of Surfaces and Finish
Each element is carefully reviewed, filled where necessary, and gently sanded before being prepared for spray painting. This is a time-consuming and meticulous process, where every transition and surface is given attention. It is here that the foundation for quality is created and where the basis for the final furniture art expression is carefully established and built up.
If this stage is rushed, imperfections may later reappear beneath the paint. At by Laden, we work with a long-term perspective, creating hand-painted, unique pieces that maintain their quality and expression over time. It is in this phase that the difference between a simple surface treatment and true furniture art becomes clear.
At the same time, conscious decisions are made regarding which traces of the piece’s past should be preserved and which should be refined. In this case, the top required particular attention, shaped by earlier restoration. The goal was to achieve a deep, almost piano-like finish, where light and space reflect within the surface, allowing it to become an active and defining part of the overall furniture art.
Layer by Layer – When the Surface Takes Shape
Once prepared, the priming begins. A specially developed wood primer is used, acting both as a sealing layer and as a base for the further build-up of the surface. It ensures that natural tones, previous treatments and traces of earlier finishes do not bleed through, creating a stable and controlled foundation for the continued work with furniture art and the development of the final expression.
The primer is applied in multiple layers with intermediate sanding. This slow and deliberate process is essential for both durability and visual balance, allowing the surface to gradually become more refined, even and coherent. It is in this stage that the technical groundwork is carefully established, supporting the depth and clarity of the final furniture art.
Paint is then applied layer by layer, gradually revealing the new identity of the piece. A PU enamel is used, creating a calm and even surface that responds gently to light. Through repeated layering and sanding, depth, clarity and harmony are achieved, allowing the surface to develop a quiet yet distinct presence within the overall composition.
Together, these layers create a surface that feels both soft and alive. Selected traces from the past are preserved, reminding us that the new expression builds upon an existing story – transforming the piece from restoration into a complete and unified work of furniture art.
Selected Details and the Work with Metal Leaf
Selected elements of the furniture receive a different treatment after priming than the remaining surfaces. In this case, it is the columns, capitals, and selected ornaments on the front of the piece that are chosen and worked on separately. These are details that carry both history and architectural character, and therefore require particular attention within the overall process of furniture art.
The capitals are treated with gold leaf, while the columns and other ornaments receive copper leaf. Before the metal leaf is applied, the surfaces are spray-painted with gold and copper metallic paint respectively, creating a uniform and calm foundation for the next stages of the work. This base allows the following layers to be built up with precision, depth and visual balance.
The metal leaf is applied in several stages, typically three to four layers. The goal is for it to be clearly visible and tangible that metal leaf has been used – without the result appearing too perfect. A certain irregularity is intentional and desired, as it helps preserve the sense of time, use, and history. When surfaces become too perfect, the narrative and character of the piece begin to fade.
Once the metal leaf process is complete, the treated areas are sealed with a thin layer of clear lacquer. The surfaces are then gently sanded so that the texture of the metal leaf is softened without disappearing. The final layers of clear lacquer create a smooth, glossy surface with high durability – easy to maintain, yet still rich in traces of the process that shaped it, where craftsmanship and furniture art come together.
A New Tabletop – Where Art and Furniture Merge
As the original tabletop was too worn to preserve, we chose in this case to let a new story take shape on the top of the piece. Rather than replacing it as a loss, it became an opportunity to introduce a new layer – allowing the transformation itself to become an active part of the furniture art.
Among the paintings we normally transform into one-of-a-kind trays, we found a landscape painting by I. Wolff. The painting was generally in good condition, with a few areas of flaking along the edges. As the format was larger than the tabletop, it allowed us to crop the motif while strengthening the visual expression. The colors in the landscape stood out clearly and harmonized naturally with the chosen colors of the furniture, allowing the painting to become an integrated part of the overall furniture art piece.
After cropping, the painting was glued onto a hardboard panel – reused from the back of an old IKEA cabinet – and then cast in artist-grade epoxy. The epoxy is a very clear and strong two-component solution that both protects the painting and adds depth to the surface. Once cured, the panel was cut precisely to fit the tabletop, allowing it to integrate seamlessly into the structure.
After thorough sanding of both surface and edges, the new top was finished with a gold leaf edge. This deliberately marks it as a new addition to the piece – a new layer of history placed upon the existing one. Before mounting, the surface received a layer of clear lacquer so that the gold edge was already smooth and protected prior to the final layers being built up.
The encapsulated painting, now framed in gold, was then mounted onto the tabletop. In this way, the weaknesses of the original top were not merely repaired – they became the starting point for a new narrative, where furniture and art merge into a unified expression and the piece moves fully into the realm of furniture art.
Epoxy Clear Lacquer – Depth, Gloss, and Long-Lasting Durability
This is followed by one of the most crucial stages in the transformation. The entire piece is finished with a two-component epoxy clear lacquer – a process that requires great precision and full attention throughout. It is in this phase that the furniture’s new colors truly come to life, gaining depth, clarity and gloss, and where the surface begins to unify as part of the overall furniture art.
We have deliberately chosen epoxy clear lacquer because it does not yellow over time, as is often seen with alkyd-based marine varnishes. In its composition, the lacquer is comparable to that used on cars, creating an extremely strong and durable surface. An important advantage is that the surface can later be lightly sanded and polished if scratches or marks appear through use, allowing the piece to maintain both its function and its visual expression as furniture art.
To ensure long-lasting durability, the surface is built up layer by layer. The piece typically receives between six and eight coats of clear lacquer, with intermediate sanding in between – significantly more layers than are usually applied to cars. This creates a lacquer thickness that allows the surface to be maintained and refreshed for many years to come, without losing its depth, balance or clarity.
The epoxy clear lacquer is also both UV-resistant and heat-resistant. It withstands continuous heat of approximately 60–80 degrees Celsius and can tolerate short-term higher exposure. This ensures that the colors retain their clarity, intensity and depth – even in rooms with abundant natural light, where the surface continues to appear calm and alive.
Working with epoxy lacquer is reserved for professionals. It requires proper protective equipment, effective filtration systems, and solid experience. It is not a process to attempt at home, but a craft that must be carried out under controlled conditions, where material knowledge, technique and furniture art come together in a durable and unified result.
Assembly, Wholeness, and a Thoughtfully Crafted Piece
Once all surfaces are completed, the piece is assembled again. It is a time-consuming process that requires calm, precision and a deep respect for the work already embedded in the material. The original, often slotted screws are reused, and the work is carried out by hand to preserve the integrity and character of the original construction. It is in this phase that the piece gradually comes together as a unified whole within the process of furniture art.
With the exception of a few small pins, only very few new materials are introduced at this stage: filler, paint, and clear lacquer. The rest originates from the original piece or from other reclaimed materials. This ensures that the furniture retains its material continuity and origin, even as its expression is renewed and elevated into a new form of furniture art.
The result is a strong cabinetmaker’s piece that – apart from the selected traces we have consciously chosen to preserve – appears solid, stable, and ready for many years of use. It is a piece that differs from mass-produced solutions by being able to withstand use, time, and repeated moves throughout life, without losing its character or quality.
That is what we call a thoughtfully crafted piece – where craftsmanship, materials and furniture art come together in a unified and lasting expression.
The Finished Piece
After all processes are completed, the work comes together in the finished piece. Here, colors, surfaces, details and materials meet in a unified whole, where both function and expression are carefully considered and brought into balance. It is in this meeting that the piece fully emerges as furniture art – not only as an object, but as part of a space and an atmosphere.
The images here show the piece as it stands completed – ready to become part of a new space and a new everyday life. A piece that carries traces of the past while presenting a renewed expression, where craftsmanship, colour and furniture art are brought together in a form designed to endure and to be lived with.
