Mid-Century Buffet's Transformation

Today I reveal my mid-century buffet Before and After photos! I'm proud of this one - what a fresh look! Furthermore, I absolutely ADORE the sense of accomplishment associated with refinishing furniture.

Mid-Century Buffet BEFORE Going to the Furniture Spa

I purchased this dynamo mid-century buffet from a nice woman in Quincy, Massachusetts. It's had better days with several stains and scratches on the surface and the finish scratched off in places, but the detail and bones were spectacular. I planned to paint the body grey and stain the top Provincial color by Minwax.

You can hardly see it in the before shot, but there's a fair bit of detail on the left and right corners below the table top...this detail had to be highlighted in the process. Also, I wasn't terribly excited about the hardware and originally thought about changing it... But I used Brasso to bring back the original beauty of the brass hardware. Amazing!

I LOVE the look of a restained top and painted body. Isn't it just spectacular?

Mid-Century Buffet AFTER Going to the Furniture Spa

The middle school craft project gone wrong

...well, it's done. I really wanted to replace this UGLY UGLY pendant light. My husband claims that he "likes it" but what that really meant was that he didn't want me to spend money on a new light. So I tried to come up with something creative and cute. I finished the project (finally) but it does remind me of that middle school craft project gone wrong :) Kelly, you are not the only one; lighting is difficult, in my view.

Here's to effort and how I did it.

How to Clean Vintage and Antique Brass Hardware

Brasso!

A lot of the hardware I work with is brass, well tarnished 60-100 year old brass. The best way to spruce up the old hardware without having to give up the vintage appeal is to clean the hardware and bring back the original brass (gold) shimmer! I've done this for several pieces - see my vintage cedar chest makeover.

I did a lot of research and came down to three basic ingredients for cleaning tarnished brass hardware: lemon, salt, vinegar, and Brasso. So from the three ingredients, I test three bass methods.

Things you'll need no matter what method you use:

Warm water with soap
Gloves
A soft toothbrush for scrubbing in the crevices

Method 1: Lemon plus salt

I had originally read this method on Centsational Girl blog - there, Kate recommends roughly 1/4 cup of salt per squeeze of /2 lemon.

I used this method when refinishing my vintage cedar chest. I let it soak overnight two different times and the result was really quite good! I repeated the soaking process to get the result I wanted...

If your washer/dryer ain't broke, don't replace it!

I learned a valuable $2090 lesson today: if your washing machine ain't broke, don't replace it!

The story I went to Lowe's for a new laundry set. My washing machine was functioning but not cleaning my clothes well and my dryer took too much time, not to mention it practically burned my clothes. I found this wonderful set at Lowe's and figured well now is the time to buy!

After leaving Lowe's I decided to buy a really sturdy washing machine pan (our set is on the second floor, so one puts a pan underneath to catch the water in case it leaks from the machine), so I headed over to Atlantic Appliance Parts in Quincy, MA. Boy, am I glad that I did that.

Billy and Donna at Atlantic Appliance Parts are AWESOME. They told me that I should not throw away a perfectly good washing machine. Furthermore, they commented that the machines these days don't last as long! They asked me a couple of questions, got the model number of my machine (Kenmore Elite from 1999) and told me that my washing machine could be fixed with an $9 washer agitator dog. Wow. Donna took me through the fix and it was easy!

Storage Cabinet from Crate and Barrel Goes to the Furniture Spa!

I absolutely adore the output of this project! I came upon this Crate and Barrel tall storage cabinet. Judging from the prices of the pieces that are currently in stock at Crate and Barrel, I suspect that my "project" was somewhere around $1,000 when originally purchased. After being in the furniture refinishing business, I am shocked that Crate and Barrel can charge this for manufactured furniture.

I have always been a fan of buying wood furniture (and cars) used on CL. I haven't seen a study of this, but I would venture to guess that any piece of wood furniture depreciates around 40% as soon as you take it home. Think about how many "like new" bed frames from Restoration Hardware you've seen on CL - people just don't get it and try to sell their RH bed frame for 10% lower than retail. Needless to say, it never sells.

Nevertheless, this Crate and Barrel cabinet was indeed a score since it has great lines and interesting detail - crown molding and a frame inset on the door - so CB cabinet shall be transformed into a Bex Wilder original beauty!

Here is the before and after! I love it!!!

How I did it

How to fix a stripped screw hole in no time!

I moved into my home in December 2013. Since then, my son's door has loosened up out of the frame because the silly painters put the wrong screws back into the holes and now the correct screws are too loose. I kept tightening the screws only to have to do it again two weeks later (or less) - this has been going on for near four months  now. I was fed up and decided to fix the loose screw holes!

Unbeknownst to me, it's a simple job. I searched the internet and came up with matches, toothpicks, or any wood that is small enough to be smashed into a hole. My addition to this method is a dowel. This method requires NO dry time and NO wood filler. You're back to new in no time!

Here's what you'll need...

1 small dowel, the smallest diameter available at Lowe's in my case

Toothpicks - I used these ornate toothpicks, since they have a flat end (good for hammering)

Good scissors or wire cutters

Hammer

... and here's the method

How to Paint Perfect Stripes on Furniture

I am painting this Crate and Barrel china cabinet - vintage and antique furniture is of WAY higher quality, by the way - and wanted to paint stripes on the bottom drawer. I have painted stripes before on furniture only to be frustrated because the paint bleeds through the furniture to make what could be a perfect stripe imperfect. Fortunately I distress furniture, so I can sand the seepage away - but I'm a bit of a perfectionist and knew/know now that the perfect stripe can be painted!

It's a very simple technique.

First, tape up your stripes; and make sure to use a level to ensure that your stripes are perfectly straight. On my china cabinet I painted three stripe colors but this technique works for as many layers of stripes as you can fit on to your piece of furniture.

Vintage Cedar Chest or Side Table Needs a Makeover

In January I purchased this 1950s vintage Lane cedar chest with a pull-out drawer off of CL. I drove two towns over from Cohasset to meet this gentleman who had literally piles of stuff in his garage. It was 5pm and dark when I drove up - admittedly some alarm bells did go off but I looked around and decided it was safe enough to walk over and buy the darned chest. Overall, the situation was a little weird (and I am happy to still be alive), but my new chest has great bones and is in desperate need of a makeover!!

Vintage Chest's Makeover in Detail

Chair and table ensemble need a bit of love

Oh wow, how my new passion for DIY keeps me busy! I finished up this chair and little table combo recently and I really like how it turned out! It was a lot of fun and I learned a ton!!

I purchased this cute little set on CL for $30. Don't know if I overpaid but the chair is very good quality. Does anyone know anything about this style of chair? I couldn't find anything with my resources. The chair has a rush weave seat and there are no screws on the entire chair! The table was a bit rickety - but trusty screwdriver fixed that right up so no problem!

Here's How I did it!

TV Console Needs a Trip to the Spa!

Welcome back to A Wilder Finish!!

I'm excited to share this project with you. My parents are close to retirement - well, my Dad is already of retirement age but continues to work - and they have a home north of San Diego that they plan to move into in a couple of years. In the interim, my mother purchased a town home and some inexpensive furniture from CL. As you can see in the picture below, some of the pieces are not too appealing. But in her mind, this furniture means nothing to her so she isn't concerned with its look - their pieces are all in California.

Yay DIY furniture refinishing!

My son and I traveled to Houston for a visit over Valentine's Day weekend - it was just a mommy and son trip, where daddy stayed home. "Mom", I said, "let's take this old and tired TV console to the furniture spa!" It was my Valentine's Day present to my parents. They were pretty excited about it, so I guess they do care.

 

 

Here's the Project from Start to Finish!

The Economics of Furniture, Part I

I am an economist in the financial industry. This is the first part of a series that I will dedicate to analyzing the economics of furniture. In short, I'll take a top down look at the industry from a macroeconomic point of view. A note to readers: if I use any terms here that are unfamiliar to you, please comment or send me an Email. I may build a glossary here at A Wilder Finish.

Within the context of the global economy, the US economy is considered a large open economy. What that means from an economic point of view is that we participate in the global financial and economic markets but are price setters. Basically, US policy matters for the rest of the world. For example, as the United States Federal Reserve Bank lowers interest rates, global rates in Germany or the UK fall as well. I am not here to discuss monetary policy - you could go to various other blogs in order to get that sort of information: David Beckworth's blog, Scott Sumner's blog, or Barry Ritholz's blog on markets and economics. And if you wish to read on the theory of Money, please see Randy Wray's blog.

How do the furniture goods and services industries fit in to the construct of the US economy? In short, furniture (the kind that you care about) is a small portion of US consumer spending.

Coffee table needs a new look!

Here's another find from CL. What I like about this table is its solid foundation and tiger wood top. What I do not like about this table are the square decorative metal inlays, the color, and the chipping varnish (I didn't test for the type of finish but my guess is varnish), and the reddish tone of the tiger wood stain.

Here's how this coffee table turned into this:

Antique Commode Chair

I got really excited about this antique commode chair, $20 on CL. But as soon as I got this chair home, my husband was off to the races making fun of both me and my chair - yes, conversation piece but not exactly the creme of the crop in terms of desirable antique furniture. Nevertheless I was determined to make this a beauty.

Here's how I did it!