Plain Old Brown Jacobean Buffet to Beautiful Buffet

Lisa Marie
by Lisa Marie
6 Materials
Medium
I started redoing furniture, as a hobby for my home, about 6 months ago. Little pieces, here and there... I was waiting to get my hands on a piece like this! When I got it, I couldnt contain my excitement! a Jacobean Buffet! HOW BEAUTIFUL!
I started by inspecting it - cleaning it. That's usually my general rule of thumb. Inspect, clean and then repair.
I had to make a few repairs to this buffet. The bottom right foot was missing a chunk so I repaired by using Bondo and building it piece by piece. The spreader underneath was warped so i had to detach and reattach using wood screws.
I started painting the buffet with a coat of Linen by Rustoleum chalk paint. Covered the entire piece- but NOT the top or inside of cabinets or drawers.
I then added a coat of Sea Foam chalk paint by Martha Stewart, haphazardly. I knew I wanted the Sea Foam to show through when I distressed it.
Next, I wanted to do something to the sides of the buffet to make it stand out so I tried out the plaster stencil technique. I taped the stencil to the side, applied the plaster. removed the stencil and waited for it to dry. Voila! It came out beautifully! Don't forget to sand it softly as to remove the rough edges.
Then I applied a last layer of chalk paint. I mixed up a custom grey and applied it in smooth coats. After that was dry, I used a combination of Wet distressing and sandpaper distressing to achieve this look.
I used wet distressing on the legs to you can see the layers of colors underneath, including the original wood.
I left the inside of the cabinets wood to compliment the top but I wanted it to have a pop of "something" - so i applied the stencil with a custom mix of blue and white paint - on both sides! I Lined the inside of the cabinet sections with a decorative paper and modge podged them on top to give them a layer of protection.
The drawers got a stencil too! The drawers were lined with a coordinating pretty fabric that I cut to size and used spray adhesive to install.
Finished the top with restore a finish and then howards's feed n wax... - Waxed the rest of the buffet with Annie Sloan's Soft Wax.. then buffed. I had to replace on of the bullet catches so I did that and she was COMPLETE!
My finished product... this is one of my best works yet!
Suggested materials:
  • Rustoleum Chalk Paint   (Home Depot)
  • Martha Stewart Chalk Paint   (ACMOORE)
  • Annie Sloan Soft Wax   (Local Shop)
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  • Liz Liz on Apr 20, 2016
    Lisa Marie, will you tell us how you staged the final picture? I mean, what is the fabric of those delicate draperies, and how did you make the windows look like the windows of an old castle? Fabulous, Fabulous!
  • Denise Roberts Denise Roberts on Apr 23, 2016
    where did you find the backdrop?
  • Cindy Baker Cindy Baker on Jun 11, 2016
    You did a great job on this buffet! It is absolutly beautiful and I love it! I also loved the stencil you used! Could you tell us what the stencil is called and what company makes it? Thank you! Cindy :)
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