Playing Peek-a-Boo

by Red Wind Studio

Typically I keep to fairly neutral colours when I am painting pieces to sell. I am trying to reach the widest market possible. Recently I started on a buffet I have had in my garage for quite some time. I would stare at it and nothing, absolutely no inspiration as what colour to paint this beauty.

playing peek a boo, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling

There was definitely some condition issues with this unit. The long drawer did not close properly so I needed to sand the opening as either the wood had expanded or the support for the drawers above was drooping a bit. The escutcheons (keyhole covers) were missing along with keys to keep the doors closed. I also needed to glue the side rails and side panels as they had started to come apart.

I decided I would purchase the items I needed before I even decided on colours. I had needed a key for another project I did previously and ordered extra keys from House of Antique Hardware along with escutcheons which wound up too large for this project. The escutcheons I did wind up using I ordered from Lee Valley. I replaced the one that was still on the long drawer to match the doors and provided keys for each as well.

Now that I had all the parts and problems were corrected I needed to do something with the top. I stripped and sanded it down while it was still in my garage and applied Varathane Chocolate then Varathane satin polyurethane. Now it was ready to go to the studio where I could decide on colours and get painting.

My choice in colours was Cream and Warm White from the FAT Paint Company. The entire exterior of the buffet was painted in Cream and then the moldings and embellishments were painted in Warm White. I applied natural wax and then dark wax to give a soft antiqued patina. A light sanding and distressing finished off the exterior, but I wasn't finished yet.

I decided to play peek-a-boo with Antique Wedgewood for the interior. For the most part the wood was old and tired looking in the drawers and nice splash of colour helps complete the buffet. Once it was painted I just added a light coat of natural wax for protection.