Saturday, January 15, 2011

Paris chic buffet makeover

About 8 years ago I purchased an amazing buffet from an estate sale for $50. I did a gorgeous diamond pattern paint job to it. The process was done by taking an 8 inch floor tile to trace the pattern. It was a long process to trace and paint, but I was very pleased with the end result.


Looks great from a distance, but when you get close up there is peeling veneer, peeling paint, water stains, and knobs have come unglued from the base.




To prep the buffet, I filled the area where the veneer peeled with compound.


Once completely dry, I sanded it to a smooth finish. Although I did not prime the entire piece before painting my new pattern (it was primed before the original paint job), I did prime the area I just covered with compound.



I always liked this color, but it has worn on me after all these years and it was time for a change. I wanted to go with a Paris chic style, so I decided to use the black paint from my bedroom. The color is called French Beret from Benjamin Moore. The contrasting color I used on this piece was the French Beret with a little white mixed in.

I was going to maintain the same diamond pattern. This can be very time consuming, so I wanted the project to go as smoothly as possible. I am not a big fan of taping off patterns on furniture because the lines can tend to be to perfect. So the next best solution for me is to hand paint each and every line. The best way to do this is by investing in a good brush. Many shy away from this because they don't want to spend the $20$30. Instead, many by $1 brushes from the dollar store, the flea market, or Wal Mart. Please trust me when I say you are going to end up spending $25 on those before the life of your good brush ends.

My favorite brush to use is my Purdy.


This brush has been lovingly used for 2 years. I have literally used it for hundreds of projects and room renovations. The condition is still great and it still has tons of life left in it. Well worth the investment. The key is to spend the extra time giving it a good cleaning after each use.

My Purdy brush was perfect for this project because the bristles move along smoothly and the angled bristles help me cut in along my lines and corners to perfection.






Yes, the project is long and tedious, but with out my Purdy brush, I never would have achieved these straight lines. Plus the project would have taken much longer with a crappy cheaply made brush.

When I came to an edge or corner, I used a piece of paper as a guide for my lines. The reason behind this is that the paper will bend where needed helping to continue with straight lines.


Here is the buffet after one coat of paint....


After this, I distressed the piece with my palm sander, repaired broken knobs with gorilla glue, and covered the entire piece with a coat of polyurethane. The knobs are my favorite part of the piece. I purchased these from Anthropologie years ago on clearance for $3 each.

Despite the amount of time, I am very pleased with the end result. I can't wait to refill the drawers and decorate the top.






Take care,
Lisa

I am entering this project in the monthly DIY CLUB contest.

The parties I am linking this to can be viewed HERE

DIY Club

19 comments:

  1. i LOVE the new bolder colors of it, and those knobs are the icing! great job as always, lisa!!! it would look fab in my new family room with those colors! :)

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  2. Lisa, this piece is amazing! I love the diamond pattern, thanks for sharing in such detail how you achieved this look. Your Anthro knobs are beautiful!

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  3. Great work! I can't believe you've had the same brush for 2 years. No way! I love the harlequin pattern and colors. This would look really good in "my" dining room :) Beautiful knobs, too! Looking good!

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  4. Wow! nice project, looks great. I have a bathroom that is all harlequins. its pretty cool

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  5. I shudder when I think of how much time you must have spent to achieve this gorgeous result! You obviously have great patience but it's paid off! This is a work of ART! Beautiful ... Stunning! Thanks for the tip about spending money on a higher end brush; I like many others, tend to be more of a cheapo. Not dollar store brushes but maybe something in the $10 range. This one looks like a keeper!

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  6. You should be pleased it turned out great and what find for 50.00 and those knobs... love! I totally agree with you on the brush thing, purdy is the way to go and painting is always about the brush!!!

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  7. WOW! It's so beautiful! Those knobs are TO DIE FOR!!!

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  8. Love that pattern and those knobs! Great job Lisa!!

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  9. this is just beautiful! I love diamond patterns!

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  11. It seems I can't spell, so I had to delete the last comment, but I wanted to say that your buffet is just so wonderful! Love the colors and the diamond design. I agree about the good brush, I use mine over and over!
    hugs,
    Debra

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  12. Just wonderful..I liked it before and even better now! Those knobs are fantastic. Great job!!

    Miss Bloomers

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  13. Beautiful new look! Great job!

    Roeshel

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  14. That is gorgeous!!! I love the original colors and I love the new ones, too. Great job, Lisa. The distressing on this piece really adds to it!

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  15. Loving this...especially the painting...oh so pretty. It would look so lovely in my house!

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  16. You did an amazing job on this is looks AWESOME!!

    Cheri

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  17. I got you added into the feature box too.

    Sorry it took a couple of extra days--we had one of the gals who lost her dad and I have had a little extra on my plate.

    Cheri

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  18. I love how it's black but still beautiful. I also love the Greyness in it. I'd say the best part though is the beautiful knobs.

    -Zane of ontario honey

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