My Love of Chippy Paint

I absolutely love chippy paint.
The chippier, the more worn, the more distressed the better. There is something beautiful about paint that has chipped, peeled and been worn right off.
This is the chair that began my love affair with chippy paint.  I bought it 17 years ago in Ohio for $5 and was instantly drawn to it.  I have loved it, cherished it, and hauled it everywhere I’ve been ever since.Chippy paint speaks of the story and the history of a piece of furniture. It says that hands have touched that piece over and over and loved it so much that the paint has literally worn off. It whispers that a piece has been moved from here to there so many times that the paint has been dented and scratched.Maybe that particular piece grew up with a child and was moved from room to room and eventually to a new house…Maybe that piece lived in a kitchen at a time when everything was made from scratch and was made my hand…Maybe it was lovingly painted, with some home made paint, to brighten up a dreary room… Maybe it was the only significant piece of furniture that someone owned so it received more than it’s share of use… Whatever the story the paint is telling… make no mistake, it is telling one.  To me, it is the story of a simpler time when furniture was made by hand, loved and meticulously cared for and when it lasted forever. I absolutely love that paint, no matter how old, can tell a story.
Each dent, scratch and spot of missing paint tells of something that happened and each moves me to love it even more.