This is one of my more recent projects. Lately I've been surfing our furniture finds on those Facebook online garage sales and trade pages. Most of that stuff is junk but every now and then, I will come across a post selling a really good piece of furniture for a great price. This piece just happens to be one of them!
This is the original photo of the post. The owner was looking to clear out his garage since his wife gave him an ultimatum and since he was asking a really low price, I figured it needed much work. From the photos alone you could tell there was veneer chipping, who knew if the drawers worked or what the top looked like underneath all that stuff. I figured what the heck, and told him I'd come pick it up. As soon as I posted I was interested, then a swarm of people offered to pick it up asap. So I knew I had to jump on the ball and head over there that instant.
There was only one problem...I was at work. So I took an early lunch and got there as soon as I could...so quickly in fact that he didn't even have to time to clear it off.
As I was helping him to move his stuff, I got the back story. Their son had been in the Army and been stationed in Germany. They lived with him few years and the previous owner of their apartment left this buffet behind. When their son was sent on a deployment, they decided to move back to the states and brought this back and this has been in their garage ever since! What a treasure.
Old pieces like this don't give up their antique glory without a fight! The top had to be stripped, the whole piece was sanded to near raw wood to get the varnish off, and the missing trim had to be filled in. Not to mention that it sat in my garage for a couple months in the middle of scorching summer where the wood swelled and shrank causing problems for the door fitting to get back into place. And the bleed through! This buffet has about 6 coats of paint, 3 coats of shellac (to stop bleed through) and 4 coats of poly.
We painted her in "Elegance" by Country Chic Paint. This color is a gorgeous duck egg blue with the slightest hint of green. This paint is one of my new favorites because the coverage is amazing and their color pallet is so refreshing to the tradition "old aged" paints. I am seriously looking into retailing their paint if our booth space ever comes through.
The color in this photo looks a little washed out (truest in the first pic). But we stained the top in General Finishes "Antique Walnut' which is also a new fave. Since I didn't want to open up the possibility of bleed through with sanding, I opted to wipe clean the detailed "V" trim for a distressed look there. This paint really is something else! We just added some glass knobs that are simple, elegant and don't take away from this German gal.
That detail gets me every time! This piece went to a lovely gal name Monday, who happened to have an armoire that had similar angled trim! Meant to be? She has also since taken up in the furniture re-do business and you can catch her work here.
Here is the before and after! Glad this piece found its forever home in a foreign land!
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