Buffet Reveal

On Thursday, I told y'all all about my blunders with the "blasted" buffet.  First of all, I have to send out a huge "Thank you!!" to Shari from Turnstyle Vogue Design and Styling for giving me a much needed "subtle" challenge (works on me every time) and kick in the boo-tay to get this buffet completed.  I probably would have talked myself out of ever tackling it, if she hadn't given me a little nudge.

A little background on this particular piece...

I had initially found a buffet (late 20s) that I adored on Craigslist.  Unfortunately, it was also 2 1/2 hours away and the hubs vetoed it.    The buffet I wanted was a measly $20 because it had some veneer damage (very similar to the one you just redid, Shari), but taking our one ton Dodge to get it would have cost quite a bit in fuel (This was back when gas was hovering around $3.75/gal.)  The hubs reasoned that I could spend $100 on one closer and still spend less than I would spend getting the one I wanted.  Made total sense.  So, that night I sat down on Craigslist and found one that was being sold for exactly $100 and was two hours closer.

The seller did not have pictures posted and I have to admit that I was really disappointed when I got there.  It was definitely not what I had in pictured when he told me it was late 1920s, early 1930s.  Obviously, it was no where close to that old.  The veneer was literally buckling off in huge waves.  It was pitted, chipped, and scratched.  Hinges were falling off due to stripped screw holes.  Knobs were broken off.  Basically the only thing it had going for it was that it had really good bones.  It will be the first and last time I ever go to buy a piece of furniture to refurbish that doesn't have a picture with the ad.

These pictures really don't convey how bad of shape it was in...

Well, being I had just drove 30 minutes and I was determined to have a buffet, I bought it.  I did talk him down to $60 from his original asking price once I pointed out all of it's issues.  My bull headed nature does tend to get me in trouble sometimes, but its also that nature that drives me to tackle things and get them done. Or, at least that's what I tell myself.  ;)

By the time I got home, I knew I had really bitten off more than I thought I could chew.  Of course, I wasn't about to admit that to anyone (Anyone = The Hubs).  So, once we moved it on to the back porch, it has sat there mocking me every time I've come in the back door - for the last 2 months.

Finally, last Wednesday I decided I was going to attack the beast.  I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I was going to get it done. I knew that there was no way in the world the hubs would let me buy another piece of furniture of that size to refurbish if I didn't get that one done.  Plus, Shari's little challenge of "Looks great!  Now how 'bout that buffet?!  Lol." on Wednesday's foyer table reveal really made me decide to tackle the stinkin' thing.  ;)

So, I spent all day Wednesday taking off all the veneer.  Wouldn't you know that the veneer on the doors and drawers were all able to be pulled off by hand, while the top of it fought me like no tomorrow.

  I hated that buffet.  Thursday was spent sanding the little bugger and filling in all the holes and gouges with wood putty.And that evening was spent with the hubs applying paintable wall paper to her doors and drawers.  THANK YOU, DEAR!  Friday morning, I did the finish sanding and went shopping for the paint and knobs.  

  By Friday afternoon, I had her primed and sitting with fans blowing on her from every direction (Patience is not one of my virtues)...

And by midnight I had one coat of paint on...

Saturday morning, I touched up all the spots where I could see the primer through the paint and let that sit all day.  I didn't want heavy coverage since I knew I was going to add some distressing.  By that evening, I was ready to start glazing. (Sorry I didn't get pictures of that part.  I was really intent on getting that far and not screwing the entire thing up.)

Once I got the glaze on the first door, I realized that the "Stone Slate" I wanted to use was too light.  It didn't make the detailing pop like I had envisioned.  Thankfully, I had some "Tall Cattail" on hand and it totally rocked!  Thank the Lord for small favors!  Unfortunately, the glaze really clashed with the knobs I had picked out.  Boo!  After putting on three coats of polycrylic over a nine hour time period (I swear I hardly slept), all she needed was different knobs.

This brings us to Sunday...  As we headed to Noah's last football game of the season, we swung into Menard's where I agonized for a good 45 minutes over the perfect knobs.  For once, the hubs was the one tapping his foot impatiently while I declared one set of knobs perfect, before putting them back when I spied something else.  LOL!  I think I finally decided on the 1000th set of knobs that I picked up after picking up a hundred other kinds and then putting them back.  I'm sure I looked like I had some kind of split personality issue going on:  

"I've found them!"  

"No, I haven't."  

"Oh!  These are it!"  

"No, they're not."

"Finally!  These are it."

"Wait!  What about these?"

After suffering through an hour of football where my son's team got completely pounded by a team that broke every YSF rule out there - and watching as my son got clotheslined repeatedly causing him to come off the field once when he couldn't breath due to a blow to the neck (Ever wanted to hurt someone else's kid????) - we finally came home and put the finishing touches on my beauty - namely, putting in the drawers, putting on the doors, and adding the knobs.

That's right.  I said, beauty.  Did you catch that?  I tamed the beast!  :)

And now donning a lovely "Covington Blue" by Benjamin Moore and glazed with "Tall Cattail",  please allow me the pleasure of introducing you to my beautiful new-to-me buffet...

And I got the hugest compliment ever from the hubs...

"Would you consider selling it?"

Ummmm...  He got a "No Way!" accompanied with a "Have you lost your ever-lovin' mind?" look.  LOL!

So, here's a quick recap:

Now I have my husband's full support in redoing any furniture that I want.  :)  He's even talking about accompanying me to some auctions.   Annnnnndddddd...  Turning the barn into a workshop where I can work all through the winter!!!  SCORE!

I must say that the pictures don't even begin to do her justice.  I love how she's distressed and aged in all the right places.  I adore her color.  And the knobs are just the right touch.  I chose right!  Its funny how one piece of furniture can motivate you to complete an entire room.  Now I've got to get a move on to get the diva's room done, so I can start working on the dining room (How many times have I said that in 3 months???).  She's just too pretty in that shabby (not in a good way) room.

I've linked up to:

Primitive and Proper: Piece of Work Wednesday Furniture Link Party #57

Restore Interiors: Restored It Wednesday

Lil Luna: Link Party #47

The Vintage Farmhouse: Creative Things Thursday

The Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday

Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday

Chic On A Shoestring Decorating: Flaunt It Friday #74

Altar'd: 31 Days of Fabulous Furniture {Day 10: Makeover Monday}

Kammy's Korner: Trash To Treasure Tuesday Link Party #2

Buffet Blunders...

In my "About Me" section, I said I would share my blunders and triumphs in this wacky world of DIYing.  Well, here's a blunder for you.  Total disclosure - even if I look like a fool complete idiot to the rest of blogland.  Go ahead and have a good laugh at my expense.

Yesterday, Shari from Turnstyle Vogue Design and Styling was picking on me because I have yet to start the buffet I told her that I had a few weeks ago.  Now, if you want to see some awesome furniture, go to her blog.  WOW!  She turns out some fantastically elegant visions.  I always suffer from a little lot of furniture envy when I visit her blog.  She has flawless taste.  Me?  Eh.  Not so much.  I'm still figuring out what I like.

So, today I don't have any lovely little craft to show you that I have made.  That's because yesterday, I tackled the buffet.  I'm never one to back down from a challenge, even though this buffet skeered me.  Cue suspense music.  Dum Dum Daaaaaaah.

I found her about 2 months ago via Craigslist and brought her home to make her mine:

Sorry for the crooked-ness.  I've got things to do and places to be today, so I wasn't going to monkey with making it perfect.

I thought I had scored this fantastic find.  Its amazing just how much I've learned in the last couple of months.  Now, I'm rethinking the purchase.  I paid $60 for her, talking the seller down from his original $100 asking price.  I knew she had "minor" veneer issues, but nothing that a little ingenuity couldn't fix.  Uh huh.  Yeah.  Right.

My solid wood buffet is solid wood all right - COMPLETELY veneer on every available surface.  Clearly I have a lot to learn about what is and what is not solid wood.  Errrrrr...

I probably should have never bought her.  But, I had driven an hour to look at her and I wasn't going back empty handed.  I'm sure I can do something with her.  I'm just not sure what.  I fell asleep thinking about how I was going to tackle her issues because if I just let her sit, I'll never hear the end of it from the hubs - and I really want to be able to buy and refinish more furniture in the future.  I'm still proving to him that this new found interest is not a "phase".  Can I get an amen on that!

Yesterday, I started tackling what I thought was a veneer surface.  Now, you tell me how it is that the edges can all be peeling up, but the center would survive a nuclear attack!  Shari had done a great tutorial about how to remove veneer a few days ago, so I set about taking it off using her method:  Wet towel and a hot iron.  

I let the towel sit for 10 or so minutes as she instructed, put the iron on it, and then attacked it.  Hmmmm...  No go.  Rewet the towel, waited a little longer and tried again.  Finally I got a strip to come up and was doing a little happy dance when it stopped.  Just stopped.  Grrrrrr!  Patience, I kept telling myself.  Work at it.  Ease it off.  I pretty much had a whole entire conversation with myself as the veneer would sometimes come up as easy as butter, but then would all of sudden stick hard and no amount of wetting and hot iron would get it to budge.  Finally, I walked away from it for a few minutes, since I was seriously considering beating it with a sledge hammer.

I went back and forth between taking the knobs, doors, and hinges off and battling it out with the veneer.  Three hours later, I had 3/4 of it off...

It was about that time that I took another break and really started looking at the front of the piece.  I had realized when I bought it that the front of the drawers and the doors were all veneer because it was buckling.  I had a solution for that in mind before I ever brought it home.  However, I wasn't prepared for pretty much every single flat surface to be veneer too.   O.M.G.  That, I still don't know what to do about.  After I pulled all the veneer off, I realized that the wood beneath was really just very rough pieces of unsanded wood.  Isn't the wood underneath supposed to be sanded or something???  Oh snap!  I suppose it could be worse.  It could be plywood or composite board.  Yeesh!  At that point, I just sat down and stared at it and wondered why I ever get myself into these situations.  I realized then that I had three options:

1.  Admit defeat, hide it in the garage, and hope the hubs forgot I ever bought.  Out of sight, out of mind.

2.  Do a half-way job, not post about it, but still technically refurb it enough that the hubs will continue to support my desire to take old furniture and make it new.

3.  Work my tail off and turn this piece of trash into treasure.

Being the competitive sort, I never admit defeat unless I'm really backed into a corner.  I realized, I'm not there yet.  I will refinish this sucker come hell or high water.  And it will look good! 


By nightfall, I had removed all the venner where feasible, repaired any minor imperfections with wood glue and putty, and had half of it sanded.  If the sun hadn't set, I probably would have kept at it.  I had even considered asking the hubs to set up this thousand kilowatt work light he has.  It had become a battle.  Me vs.  The Buffet.  And I never back down from a challenge.  I will win.

Thankfully, the hubs treated us all to KFC when he got back from bidding jobs.  By the time I had put everything away, covered the piece up for the night, repaired the disaster that was the house from doing literally nothing inside all day...  I was exhausted.  I climbed into bed at 8:30 pm with aching arms and promptly fell asleep.


Unfortunately I'm not used to going to bed that early, so I was wide awake at 2:00 am and spent an hour laying in bed strategizing about how I'm going to refurb this baby.  Does anyone else get consumed about a difficult project like this or am I just nuts?  I fell back to sleep with a pretty good idea about how I'm going to finish this.


By the time the alarm went off at 6:00 am, I was ready to go.  Now, I've finished up the household chores and I'm ready to go at it again.  Hopefully, I will have better news to report tomorrow.


Until then, wish me luck! 

Another Sweet Deal (or two!)

I think I've forgiven Craiglist for its betrayal from last week.  I was little soured on the whole deal, but today my online garage sale was redeemed!

I found this AWESOME solid oak rocking chair with the BEST detailing on the back.  Today, I picked it up for a song - $30.00!  It is going to be absolutely PERFECT in our bedroom!  And better yet, I picked up a gallon of the most gorgeous green paint that I'm going to paint it with.  I had originally thought that the color pallet for our bedroom was going to be gray and white with pops of turquoise, but when I saw this green eggshell paint in the mis-tint aisle at Menard's I KNEW that it was color I was going to go with!  At $5.00 a gallon, it was such a steal!  I am so glad I learned about mis-tinted cans through the amazing blogs I read!  So, the nightstands, and now this rocking chair are going to be green.  And if I get REALLY brave, I'm going to paint my vanity that color too!

So, here's the chair:

Is that not the most awesome thing EVER???

Here's a close-up of the carving on the back:

And the arms:

And another close-up of the little bit of veneer that is coming off the back.  This does give me some pause, as it seems to be REALLY thick veneer.  In fact, I'm not even sure it IS veneer.  It just seems a lot thicker than any veneer I've ever seen.

I CANNOT WAIT to try my first attempt at distressing and using finishing paste.  And the hubs has promised me that I can buy an electric hand sander since I hate sanding with a vengeance.  I am just so excited at the thought of it all!

I also went on a little buying mission at Menard's today.  I used to DESPISE going into that place!  The hubs would spend HOURS in there and I would be all antsy for him to get what he wanted and get out.  Now, I get downright excited to go into that store.  It's a restorer's heaven!

I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself though, with all my furniture purchases.  As of now, I have 4 nightstands to refinish (2 of which I already owned), the football player's chest of drawers, 2 twin headboards/footboards (we own those, as well), the rocking chair, and a buffet that I bought today.  I have now promised myself that I will purchase absolutely nothing until all those pieces are completed.  I won't even LOOK!

I also found an oak buffet yesterday on Craigslist.  Unfortunately, the one I REALLY wanted was almost 2 hours away and the hubs vetoed the idea of me driving that far north to buy it.  Sad thing is, it was definitely the era in which I was looking, had some minor veneer issues on the top, and was only $10!!!  DARN!

So, last night I called one that was for sale locally for $100.  The gentleman was a little ill-informed (not that I'm even close to an expert) and told me that the one he had for sale was built probably in the 1920s-1930s.  Supposedly the only thing that was wrong with it was one of the doors was off a hinge because the screw holes had been stripped out - an easy fix.   Well, I figured with an asking price of $100 bucks, it would probably be in pretty decent shape.

I was a little disappointed when I got there.  I had assumed from the way he made it sound, that the man just needed more space in his garage and wanted to get rid of it.  When I pulled up to the residence, it was obvious that the guy probably just needed money quick and this was one of the only things he had of value that he could sell for any decent amount of money.  The small one car garage was full of boxes and miscellaneous furniture.  The garage obviously wasn't  even remotely able to keep out the elements, so I knew I'd be dealing with some moisture damage.

She (I always refer to my furniture in the feminine, no clue why, just do - Heck, I might start naming it.  LOL) was in pretty rough shape and definitely had more going on than a door that was off.  Due to moisture, the veneer was buckling off in places on the front and on a few spots was peeling.  But the piece itself was actually a really solid piece of oak furniture.  I'm not sure if the knobs are original, they probably are since they match the wood drawers.  It even has the key that fits into the locks on the drawers.

The one good thing is it still had the dealer tag in the back.  It says it was made by Chittenden and Eastman from Burlington, Iowa and it has "Square Brand" on the tag, as well.

The company dates it's beginnings back to 1866.  Thanks to Google, I have seen some absolutely beautiful pieces by them from the 1920s.  They manufactured the Square Brand product from 1890 to the early 1970s, so I have a very broad range of years that this could be dated.  Something about it reminds me of furniture that came from my Dad's childhood home, so I'm thinking maybe 1940s or 1950s????

Given the nature of the work I was going to have to put into it, there was NO WAY I was paying the $100 asking price.  Its not like it was some kind of antique that needed the work and would be worth quite a bit when it was finished.  At best, it might be 40 years old.
I really didn't want to have wasted a 45 minute drive for nothing either.  When he saw me hemming and hawing and pointing out the issues it had, he said, "I'll make you a deal.  I'll take $80 for it."  That DID NOT impress me.  I looked at it some more, looked at the back again...  Stared at the front...  I already had an idea about what I would do with the veneer buckling off the drawers, but I knew it would be super-lots of work.  So, I offered him $60 and that was only because I knew that it was solid oak.  And he took the offering price.  Honestly, I feel like I should have only paid about $50 for it, but I didn't think he'd go half.  If it turns out the way I think it will, I will be satisfied in the end.  I just really wish there was a way to find out for sure how old it is.

ANYHOO...

Here she is in all her faded glory:

Looks like I've got a lot of work to do!  I probably won't post for a little while, while I work on the all the things I've acquired lately.  But when I do post again, hopefully I'll have lots of reveals to show you!

Until then, take care!  :)