My Buffet Makeover (for the second time)

I completed a buffet makeover…for the second time.

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Sometimes it takes a couple tries to get it right. That’s what happened with this buffet I snagged from our local Goodwill for just $75. Earlier this year, I painted it, sanded it, and stained it, and I was happy with the results….for awhile. I even posted a tutorial about the makeover. I used black paint on the body and brown stain on the countertop, which gave it an old world feel. I loved at first until I started changing the color scheme in my home.

I am in the process of toning down the colors in my home to create a softer, more modern traditional vibe. I love white and gray together, and I have been trying to create a space using those colors in my family room. We initially had the buffet sitting in our dining room, but after we purchased and made over our hutch, we no longer needed the buffet in there. I began looking for another spot in our home that the buffet could live.

Related:

• Our Extreme DIY Kitchen Makeover
• Chalk Paint Hutch Makeover with a Restoration Hardware Look
• DIY Board and Batten Wall in my Home Office
• DIY Chalk Paint Furniture Tutorial for Beginners
• How to Make a DIY Magnolia Wreath

For the past year or so we have been searching for an entertainment center, with no luck finding one in our price range that we liked or could fix up. It didn’t occur to me at first to move the buffet under the TV in our family room because I was set on finding a larger entertainment center, but I thought why not give it a try. I would paint it white, swap out the gaudy fixtures, and try positioning it as an entertainment center.

So I got to work with this plan in mind.

Here’s how the buffet looked after the first makeover.

I’m well aware there’s a smudge on the top drawer. You actually don’t notice it much when you’re looking at it in person, but when I take pictures it really shows. The reason this happened was because I used the spray polyurethane and didn’t apply it evenly. Good thing I was planning to redo the piece. Let that be a lesson to me. 😉

To start off, I used a sanding block to scuff up the surface so the new paint would adhere.

Then, I got to work painting it white. I had some leftover white paint from my bookcase makeover that I was able to use.

Because I was covering a dark paint color, it took a few coats to get it completely covered.

Here’s the difference from one to two coats:

The most important thing to do is to let the paint dry between coats.

The last steps for me were to fill in the extra hole on each door where the previous fixtures were, do some touch ups,  apply polyurethane, and add the new hardware. I ended up purchasing these for the drawers and these for the doors.

Here’s the result:

Here’s a close up of the slight distressing I did on the piece. I wanted it to have a similar vibe of the chalk paint end tables I made over.

Here’s the ‘before’ and ‘after’ shot. It really made quite a transformation. The new hardware gives it a completely different feel.

Here’s how it looks in the space. I typically don’t decorate with red, but I have Christmas decorations up in my family room so I went with that theme. I also kept it pretty minimal with the decor because on the other side of the room lives my mantel which is decked out in Christmas decor. I had to have some balance.

If you have been following along on my Facebook page, I recently posted a picture of a blanket ladder I bought. It had a farmhouse feel originally and was splattered with various paint colors. I loved it, but it didn’t quite fit in my space so I had to modify it a bit. I kept with the look of the rest of the white furniture in my living room and painted it white.

I also scuffed up the edges a bit with my sanding block to give it a bit of a distressed look.

I am loving how the buffet fits in with my living room. It really was the perfect piece to use as an entertainment center. And to think, I had it in my home all along. 🙂