This outstanding buffet came from a dear friend of mine who was unable to finish painting it because she was taking care of her mom as she battled cancer. She passed this gorgeous gem onto me to do my magic. Little did I know at the time, my life would also come to a screeching halt.
When her husband dropped it off, I immediately fell in love. It had the most gorgeous lines and super cool hardware.
The top was marked up with some dark stains so I had to strip, stain and refinish that. I knew immediately the direction I wanted to take it. I’ve always wanted to do a winter white buffet with a deep, dark espresso stained top. I stripped it with my favorite stripper, then refinished it with Java Gel stain from General Finishes.
These pictures are not really in a chronological order. I shot photos and a video but I’m horrible unorganized, especially after having moved the business back home so I’m not sure which camera or computer they’re stored on. I can tell you though, I ALWAYS refinish and stain a top prior to painting the rest of the piece so the stain doesn’t end up dripping down onto the raw paint. Yes, I’m speaking form experience. Don’t do it. Stain first, then paint. I refinished the top, sealed it with Frenchic’s durable Finishing Coat then moved to paint the body.
Laurie loves to layer colors and she does it beautifully. Not only can she paint furniture, she is an outstanding artist and I can only imagine how cool it would have been had she finished it. After ending up in my hands, I needed to make her proud and do a nice job. I wasn’t sure which colors she started with and it wasn’t completely covered so I did my best to finish feathering in the base coat, layering similar colors to the ones that Laurie had used. This is my favorite way to “build” a finish. I get much more enjoyment out of creating a subtle, yet multi-colored finish by simultaneously layering similar colors all at once. The closest color I had that matched her overall blend was Sugarpuff by Frenchic. It was a touch darker than what Laurie had used so Cathy mixed in some Wedding Cake to lighten it up. This half mixed mixture is what I used to finish the base coat. I intentionally left it with swirls of colors so the finish would appear more random than it would from a straight color. Remember, this is the base coat ~ though I do usually do this with my top color as well.
If you want to replicate this color, I recommend going with Sugarpuff. I quite honestly think it looks cool as heck like this and at this point, I could have simply finished with with Frenchic’s White Wax, but I wanted to make sure I had it more evenly covered and I’ve also noticed things trending a little bit lighter during that time so I feathered in a couple more very thin layers using Frenchic’s Wedding Cake.
It is a gorgeous white. I distressed back to let the base coat peek through randomly to create an old world European finish.
We seriously order it as fast as it flies off the shelves, especially this time of year when everyone is painting signs and decor for Christmas. It’s a very pretty white that is warm without being yellow.
I layered, wet distressed, stepped back to look at it then repeated over and over until it was “just right”. Here’s a bunch of close ups.
This beautiful piece was made by Brickwede Brothers Better Built Furniture out of Marietta, Ohio. I’d love to see their other creations from that era!
Buffets are my favorite thing to paint. If you’re local and have one to get rid of or ever run across one for sale, I’d sure appreciate it if you let me know. I can reached by text, Facebook Messenger or via email at shizzledesign@gmail.com.
This one was screaming “Shelly. .. Take me hoooooome w you, take me hooooooome but I needed the money so I SLOWLY loaded her up with the help of my kitchen cabinet painting neighbor then drove her to the Not So Shabby where I hope the new owner enjoys it as much as I did doing the makeover. I also hope Laurie enjoyed the finished piece. I think it’s classic; she didn’t last long. It was a bitter sweet sale as it was the last piece Cathy and I worked on together. But what a way to finish yeah?
a hui hou!
Shelly Andrade
Oh Shelly she’s gorgeous! I knew you would give this curvy detailed vintage piece the makeover she deserved. Thank you!