Updating An Art Deco Buffet

This Art Deco style buffet is a doozy isn’t it? Would you have bought it… even if it was a “good” price… it looks quite beat-up?

BEFORE

Check out the damage that the top had suffered! I wasn’t sure if I could repair it or not…

But I tried & I was very happy that with some sanding, stain and oil it came out looking great!

I tried to pay homage to the time period, while also updating it. I thought that the Provence Annie Sloan chalk paint was the perfect blue for this piece! A light distressing and a coat of clear wax finishes up the painted sections.

After sanding the top I stained it Dark Walnut and then oiled it with Watco Danish Oil in dark walnut finishing up with a coat of wax for all of the stained parts.

Didn’t think the top would turn out this nicely did you?

I refinished and reused the original handles, which I really glad I did… they’re just perfect for this piece!

Whether you’re a fan of Art Deco or not I hope you like this little update! It’s amazing what a little know-how and some sandpaper will do to revive a piece that looks like it is on its last legs!

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Until next time!

June 13, 2013 12

A Buffet Makeover

Well this admission is slightly embarrassing… but I’ve had this buffet chillin’ out in my garage for almost a year! I bought it last year at the Lucketts Spring Market and I was SOOO excited to get it! This buffet was just what I was looking for to replace my current dining room buffet. As with most pieces that are for “me” it sat for quite a while, all forlorn and sad, until I got around to stripping the top… then it sat for another 8 months or so until I picked up where I left off! One of the reasons it sat dejected for so long is that I had found a buffet that looks VERY similar to this one. The “new” buffet has a cabinet in the center instead of drawers, which worked out much better for my storage needs. SO this beauty just sat around patiently until I started back on it last week… you know I was going to take it back to Lucketts!

This buffet is HEAVY, very HEAVY, in great shape, vintage and all that yumminess…

BEFORE

Here is my paint removal setup…

I was removing the paint off the top in hopes that the wood underneath was in good shape! I “love” my heat gun and prefer to remove paint with it instead of chemicals, but it was a slow process… heat up paint, scrape it off, deposit paint scrap into cardboard box… REPEAT a hundred times… but I was determined!

I removed about 90% of the paint and the rest I removed with my orbital sander. Starting with 150 grit and finishing with 220 grit.

TA DA! Thank goodness the top was in FABULOUS shape! I would have really freaked out been ticked if I had gone through all of that trouble only to discover it was not!

Rather than repaint the buffet I decided to distress the paint that was there. I really liked the color, sort of an Old Ochre with a touch of green, and it distressed wonderfully. I did decide to paint the side display shelves and for that I chose Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Florence. I thought it would add a great pop of color to the piece!

I stained the top in Dark Walnut, conditioned it with Watco Oil and finished it off with a layer of Annie Sloan Clear Wax. It was just stunning!

I left the original pulls, but I cleaned them up really good.

I also waxed the cabinet part of the buffet to bring back the shine that the sanding removed, the final finish is smooth feeling but distressed looking!

I had every intention of loading this bad boy onto a truck and taking it to the Lucketts Market this year, but as fate would have it I sold it 2 days after I finished it. I was meeting a new client for a consultation and when she saw the buffet she just loved it! I was sad to see it go, but oh so happy that it went to a great home… and just a ~~LOT~~ little happy that I never had to lift it again!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time…

April 19, 2013 6

A Delicious Buffet

Good news! I remembered to take “before” photos! Lots of them! Lucky you huh?

Super great buffet with lots of detail and sexy legs…

The photos make it look like it was in better shape than it was…

Don’t get mad that I painted it please… It really had a lot of scratches and the finish was extremely brittle, it could have been used as it was, it was gorgeous, but I knew it could be oh so much better…

I sanded the top to the bare wood (yup, no stripping, I told you I hate to use stripper )

Can you see how gorgeous the top WILL be? Oh, I can!

It’s a little dusty but well on it’s way! Just look at that grain!

For the cabinet part of the buffet I first cleaned it really good with a mixture of TSP and water to remove any dirt or residue. Then I used a paint that my local Benjamin Moore dealer (Virginia Paint) carries called Cabinet Coat. Can I just take a moment to tell you how MUCH I love this paint?! I used it for the first time about 3 years ago when I painted my kitchen cabinets. This paint holds up like a CHAMP, no chips, scratches etc. It dries SUPER fast and has some magical (yup…that’s my word for it) properties that makes it even out when you paint with it. It gets even better ya’ll…it DOES NOT require a primer.. What?!!! The only “problem” with this paint is that it can only be tinted in light to pastel colors.. so no dark colors for this paint! I went with a very light grey for this piece and I used a dark glaze over the paint in order for all of those yummy details to really POP!

So after much of my BLAH.. BLAH.. BLAHING… Here she it in all her purdiness!

Can you see how he glaze brought out all of those details?

The knobs are the originals, with the original finish and they are great!

I stained the top with Special Walnut by Minwax and applied two coats of wax as a protectant…

Wait for this shot of the top, OMG it is so darn GORGEOUS!

I think you need to see a shot from the other side because of this crazy gorgeous grain!

Do you see how that grain is now a show stopper?

I just love this buffet and I was sad to see her go, but she was promised to another.. such a sad love story for me…but a happy ending for her new owner who is thrilled to have her and thinks she is gorgeous!
I want to take a second to send a special shout out to my client Stacy who trusted me enough to buy this buffet sight unseen (ok, so maybe she had a cell phone picture…) and then pretty much let me do what I wanted to the piece! Thank goodness she loves it! Whew!!

What do you think? After seeing the “after” photo’s are you still upset that I painted her… ‘cause she looks very happy to me?!

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March 21, 2012 45

A Much Loved China Cabinet

This one is uniquely mine… there was no way I was selling it after all the time I put into it and how much I loved it… it was perfect for me!

The cabinet was a score from the Goodwill store.. I just happened to be at the right place, at the right time, don’t you just love it when that happens! We couldn’t fit both pieces into the SUV so we had to make two trips.. but it was so worth it! The cabinet is solid wood and was probably manufactured sometime in the 60’s or 70’s.. (ok, so I’m just guessing the date range, but based on the overall feel of the piece I think I’m pretty close). All of the metal work was old brass in color and the cabinet had a fluorescent light with a plastic diffuser cover in it… gross!

This was the very first piece I painted using Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint, wow… have I learned a lot about this paint since then, way back in June :). I will admit that I really didn’t believe the hype about not needing to prime… so I primed… crazy huh? At the end of the project I was glad I did because it gave me an additional layer of color to work with during the distressing process.

I used the Kilz primer that I had on hand, it was tinted grey from a prior painting project, and primed the entire outside. I then painted the outer cabinet with 2 coats of ASCP in Provence and freaked out! This color looked WAY too bright… (let me tell you that today Provence is my favorite color, I just LOVE it)… but 8 months ago I wasn’t so sure… I continued on, hoping that in the end it would look great. Does this ever happen to you? You are partway through a project and you are thinking “oh no, what have I done”? Well, that was where I was, but I pressed on, having just enough faith to keep me going… I sanded the paint down some to give the piece a little distressing… I LOVED how easy the paint distressed, but not all of the dust it creates… I was so filthy after this part of the job it was ridiculous! But I still wanted to tone the color down more, so after I applied a coat of clear wax I applied a light layer of dark wax. I loved the way the color toned down and the dark wax aged the piece just right… The inside I painted with Old White, no distressing just a light sand and a coat of clear wax. I finished up with a lot of buffing! I was very happy with the color combination and level of brightness of the toned down Provence. The handles and grate I painted with oil rubbed bronze and reattached. The original fluorescent light box was brought into the 21st century by replacing it with puck lights wired to the original electrical wiring… we rarely turn them on, but we wanted the option just in case! This project took a LONG time, but it was not difficult…. it’s a big china cabinet with a lot of nooks and crannies… but in the end I think the results were worth the time invested.

: Great Old Chunky Handles

: After Close Up

: Interior – The Only Original Finish Left

I have a collection of pitchers that I wanted to display… some are vintage, some are hand-made, a couple are mass-produced, but they all have meaning…. truthfully this cabinet has turned out to be the perfect piece! It brings in a fantastic pop of color into an overall neutral room and allows me to display pieces that hold such wonderful memories for me….

I think every room should have a pop of color… it doesn’t have to be big, it can be something as small as a vase… but I think color can have a tremendous effect on you… and as I write this I find myself eyeballing my black accent furniture and thinking hmmm…. what if you were BLUE or maybe a great GREEN… (please don’t tell my hubby I’m thinking that!)

How about you? Are you feeling like your room could use a little pop of color?

Thanks for stopping by!

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