The White House on the Square is Giving New Life to Old Furniture

Whitney Marzullo cherishes the pictures clients send of the cozy spots her painted furniture has found in their homes.

“I just love the fact that at one point this was a discarded piece or a piece that was unloved, and I’ve been able to bring it back to life and give it a whole new second chance for somebody else,” she says.

Whitney is the owner and creator behind The White House on the Square. From a 19th-century house steps away from the center of Shrewsbury, she repurposes antique and vintage pieces in crisp, elegant style that she calls “pretty and practical”. Her creative journey has attracted 10,000 Instagram followers and loyal customers eager for one-of-a-kind décor.

Whitney began her professional career as a manager in government. When she changed course to family photography, she and her husband, Matt, bought the Shrewsbury house as a studio.

Around 2016, she told her husband she needed a change. Her idea: A décor and painted furniture store. She asked for a six-month trial. He said, “You have $1,000 to do what you want, and we’ll give it six months.”

Four years later, still going strong, COVID gave Whitney “permission to shift gears”. It was time to close the shop and concentrate on revitalizing furniture.

“The quality of my pieces has gotten that much better because I can really spend my time focusing on them,” she says.

A passion for paint usually begins with a tight budget, and that’s Whitney’s story. She and her husband were furnishing their first home when she rescued a bookshelf from a dumpster.

“I picked up a can of Annie Sloan chalk paint,”–duck egg blue, by the way–“and that’s where I started.”

Her favorite projects involve reinvention. A dresser that’s missing drawers takes on new storage dimensions for mudrooms and foyers. She once turned the top of a clunky, ill-used empire dresser into a coffee table, and the bottom into a bench.

She learned woodworking along the way.

“I have all the power tools, which were a little intimidating at first,” she says. “I had to gradually work myself up to using some of the larger ones, but having the confidence has come in very handy, because I’ve actually ventured into some home improvement projects.”

Whitney paints and refashions most pieces according to what appeals to her–and the item itself.

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“I let the pieces speak to me,” she says. “I like the process to be organic. Sometimes I have an idea in my mind, but once I get into the cleaning and repairs, I’ll start to feel differently. I can totally shift gears.”

The finished piece might be an armoire in a soft white with a pop of pink drawers and–in a signature look that nods to a piece’s heritage–wooden legs stained in walnut. A buffet coated in a calming, custom mix of blues is judiciously distressed to highlight details. An armoire stands tall in Melange paint’s dark and stormy Restoration Bronze.

Whitney’s email list of followers gets dibs at buying the finished pieces, before they go on social media. Some pieces find a home right away. Others wait for the right match, such as the breathtaking mirrored buffet done in Fusion Mineral Paint’s Ash, contrasted by counter and drawers stripped, bleached, and stained in a gleaming natural wood look.

“Only one person needs to fall in love with it and give it a second chance in a good home,” Whitney says.

Her followers are encouraging and supportive. For the rare commenter aghast at painting antiques, she notes that it’s not irreversible–paint can be stripped from solid wood–and keeps a classic item from clogging a landfill.

So, say grandma’s buffet doesn’t suit your décor, but you’re afraid to sling that paintbrush.

“Would you rather paint that piece and have it in your home and enjoy it and remember your grandma, or do you want it to sit in the basement and be storage for tools and craft supplies?” Whitney says. “You can totally honor that memory by personalizing it for your own style.”

Whitney enjoys day trips to prowl vintage shops with her husband or see a show with her children, ages 22, 20, and 17. She blogs about the joys and challenges of furniture painting, happy to share her secrets and favored products.

“I like to be inspired, and I like to inspire,” she says.

Her journey across what she calls the “chapters in my book” has built her confidence and her awe at her ardent friends and followers. When she establishes a challenge for herself, they say she can do it.

“Sometimes, I’m amazed at the number of people that actually want to follow me and I’ve helped to inspire, for them to take something they’re no longer using and maybe turn it into something

that they love,” she says. “I’m very humbled at the people who watch the pieces and want to buy my pieces and continue to buy my pieces. They’re great cheerleaders.”

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