Buffet Lookin’ Fine

I love to scour Craigslist for deals. For a long time, I was missing key pieces of furniture, like a dining room table, living room sofa and other things. By watching Craigslist, I was able to find some pieces I liked in a price range I really liked.

Take this buffet for example. It was posted on Craigslist for $25.

Shut the Front Door! Twenty-five bucks?
I really did not have a burning need for a buffet, but I liked the style of this one and at $25, I figured I could fix it up and resell it if it didn’t work out. We had to enlist the help of a friend to get it home, but once I got it home, I managed to find the perfect space for it. Go figure.

I had other projects on my to do list, so the buffet sat patiently waiting for it’s turn to get some lovin’. Hubs was not initially on board with my plan for the buffet. He wanted me to simply refinish the piece. He liked the wood finish. Don’t let the price tag fool you, this is a mahogany buffet. The legs, drawers, panels, it’s all mahogany and I did not make the decision to paint this piece lightly. Here’s why I decided to paint.

This teeny, tiny trim work on the door had a big ol’ gouge out of it. It would be impossible to fix the gouge without the piece looking like it had a chunk of wood filler there. Plus, there’s no way to find this kind of trim. There were some chunks missing from the legs, too. It truly saddened me that I could not keep this buffet in it’s original condition, but I did keep the top, even though there is a stain that wouldn’t come out.

I won’t bore you with all the process pictures, except for this one. I primed the piece with some el cheapo spray paint, and then painted the piece in an Heirloom White-ish paint. I had Lowes match the spray paint. I then used my Valspar Metal and Patina Glaze in Bronze to accent the piece.

Here’s a close up of the leg during the glazing process.

I wish that I did not have to take pictures with my cell phone camera and I could show you just how pretty this glaze is. I have a metallic golden/bronze color that is just pretty, Pretty. PRETTY. 
I’m hoping Santa Hubs brings me a new camera for Christmas.

At any rate, I used my wipe-on Poly and did several coats, got it all back together. Here’s what the top looks like.
Don’t you love that wood grain? Yum!

I kept the original hardware on the piece, but had to give them a spritz of Oil Rubbed Bronze after a slight sanding incident took the finish off of one of the handles. They are still very close to the original color.

The top drawer is velvet lined and divided into three sections. I’m not sure if I’ll take out the antique silver and put it in these sections or not. I have a couple of boxes for the silver, so I’ll have to decide.

The little detail work under the drawers has the nicest touch of shimmer from the glaze. It’s so pretty.

Here’s the door that had the gouge in the trim. It’s all smooth now and I can’t even tell where I fixed it.

 I need to dig out the box with my Currier and Ives Ironstone in it and put it in their new home. I inherited that set from the in-laws, which truth be told, is not my favorite, but it’s growing on me. Several of the pieces are chipped and I’m slowly working on replacing those pieces and getting a full set.

I simply could not be happier with how the piece turned out.

If you want to see more details about the Fall Display on my buffet, click here.

Buffet – $25.00
Paint – $13.00
Glaze – Free. Left over from another project.
Oil-Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint – Free. Also left over.
Wipe on Poly – $8.00

Total Project Time: About 12 hours spread out over a couple of weeks.

Check out my Link Parties page to see where I’m linking this project up!