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