Simply sign up to the House & Home myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. At a Christie’s sale in Paris late last year, a painted “Etruscan” armchair that once adorned Marie Antoinette’s ...

Most homes will have a piece of pine furniture – perhaps a bedside table or a whole chest of drawers. This orange pine – often varnished or waxed – can be particularly hard to paint over, especially ...