One of our neighbors left an antique buffet out with their trash one week, and Daniel decided we needed it. Of course he made this decision while I was at work, so sadly I missed seeing him load the buffet onto a dolly and push it several houses or so down the road and down our super-steep driveway. It must have been a sight to see Daniel get this thing into our house! I hope the neighbors got a good laugh!
At some point the buffet had been painted with a very uneven coat of latex paint that was bubbling off the dresser top. So, even if we liked the white appearance, it clearly needed a more permanent finishing. It was definitely going to be a project to strip the paint and find a way to refinish it to fit with the rest of the furniture in the dinning room.
The paint came easily off the top and underneath was a beautiful veneer finish that was mostly undamaged. Unfortunately it was a REAL BEAST stripping paint off the rest of the surfaces. We decided to leave the legs as-is and simply top with a better quality furniture paint. Removing the paint from the hardware was also relatively painless– I poured boiling water and let it sit for about an hour before scrubbing with an old toothbrush.
Removing paint from the trim and drawer faces was horrible. Each surface was easily stripped 3-5 times, because the paint would get gummy and was extremely difficult to remove. We tried all kinds of things and nothing really worked very well. Daniel had some success using mineral spirits to clear the surface after removing the stripping agent.
Eventually we just decided it had to be good enough. Daniel then added several coats of Danish Oil to try to even out the finish. In a few places we also used “Restor a Finish.” The product that really help give the piece a more finished feel was Amy’s Howard’s Dark Antique Wax– thanks mom! She gave us that tip/ product to try. I essentially added a layer of dark wax everywhere and I felt it really helped to even the wood tone and hide some of the imperfections with the remaining paint.
As for the legs, we decided to paint them a dark shade of blue using “Dixie Bell” paint. I haven’t used this paint before, but absolutely loved it! It covered well with one coat in most places and wasn’t quite as thick as a lot of “chalk paints,” making it a little easier to use. I love the rich color and matte finish. I think it will hold up well!
So, while it seemed a little risky starting a big DIY project in my third trimester, we managed to finish before baby arrived! I’m looking forward to having a place to store table clothes and miscellaneous items. I’m also excited to have a big surface for serving food and drinks when I entertain, although who really knows when that will be. I have a feeling we won’t be hosting Thanksgiving or holiday parties (at least in the same way) this year between having a baby and COVID.