Hidden Gem
When this buffet was gifted to me, I expected it to be another piece that I would paint to give it an updated look but once I started working on it I realized it had the potential to be something special.
Aside from a few dings and chips the piece was in great shape for its age.
I decided to strip it down to bare wood to see what I had to work with. It didn't take me long to see how beautiful it could be.
It didn't take a lot to sand back the finish that was on it to reveal the beauty of the veneer but the legs were a lot of work. The ridges make it a challenge to removing the finish. The drawers were lined with a dirty green felt, I was able to take them apart and remove that.
Next I needed to decide on what I would do to update yet keep its original beauty. I decided to paint the front trim and side panels in black and then I used polycrylic clear on the wood veneer to bring out the wood's natural beauty.
The veneer on the back was old and brittle and easy to remove. There was a chunk taken out of the top corner that I used a wood putty to build back up. I sanded between the ridges and voila it looks as good as new.
The top sanded back nice but there was a deep gouge that I did not try and fill because I wanted to just poly the top and a filler would have shown through
I've seen people that will put a hot iron on the gouge which helps swell the wood to make it less visible but I was afraid to do this to the veneer so to me it just shows the piece's age and previous life. If I had try to sand that out it would have gone right through the veneer.
Here she is in all her glory! It's the most beautiful piece I've worked on, it has an updated look with the black trim and new gold hardware yet still elegant and classic showing the wood trim.
If you're local and have a piece that could use a little TLC, I would be happy to give you a quote, just send me a message with pics and we will chat!
