White Antique Buffet

I bought this buffet from a very nice old gentleman who said it was his grandmother's and came all the way from Norway.  Ok, I think I've become a skeptic in a lot of things, but I am choosing to believe him because it would be a really neat story if it is true. ;)  Regardless of its origins I loved the shape of it (I cannot say no to a buffet on legs--it is almost impossible!!).  

I think I've been having a mild case of painter's block because it took me forever to decide what I wanted to do with this one, too.  It just didn't seem fitting to do it in any color but black or white.  I asked a friend, she said "white", I said ok! :)  Problem solved.  It had a beautiful wood top on it so I left it natural and am so glad I did. 

The man had been stripping it with a pocket knife!  I can just tell you that I am thankful for my orbital sander!! 

Before

Note the totally mismatching and missing hardware--makes me sad when the hardware is gone :( .

 After

She just has such a classic, simple shape and I love it in white. 

Isn't this top so pretty?!  It's stained in Dark Walnut by Minwax.

 I wish I had a before of this drawer.  It was lined in dirty, nasty, old green felt.  I almost threw up in my mouth a little when I opened it.  I disassembled the entire drawer, ripped that awful stuff out, sanded it all down, and lined the drawer bottom.  Much better!  Just love a simple stripe now and then. ;)

I painted the inside beige the first go round and it was so BORING--so I opted to match it to the drawer liner. Love how fresh it looks!  Who wouldn't want to store their dishes (or whatever) in here?

I never get tired of white with a wood top and black hardware!

FOR SALE:  $250.00

dimensions:  53.5"W x 38"H x 21"D

This buffet was featured by Stacey @ Embracing Change and by

Judy @ DIY by Design .  Head on over to their blogs and check out the other features,  as well as what they've been up to!  You won't be sorry!! :) 

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Queen Anne Vanity with French Script Drawers

I saw these cute drawers (at A Lapin Life) and couldn't get them out of my head!  Aren't they awesome?! :)  

I also had this cute little vanity that was dying for a makeover and guess what?  The drawers were just the right size!  I was so excited!  

Before

I literally spent two days thinking of how I was going to get my drawers to look like I pictured them.  I came across a tutorial on how to use wax paper to transfer images.  So, I found an image of French Script that I liked and copied it onto my piece of wax paper with my ink jet printer.  I just made sure there were no wrinkles in the paper, cut it to the right size, and ran it through the printer.  Worked like a charm.  Then I quickly (because you want the ink to remain wet) laid the paper, ink side down (obviously) on top of my drawer.  This is the only tricky part.  Once the paper touches the surface you are transferring it to you CANNOT move it or the ink will smear all over (thankfully I did not learn this for myself!).  Then I simply held the wax paper in place and rubbed over it with a credit card.  When I was done (you can see the ink transferring) I lifted the paper straight up (again, do not slide it!), and

VOILA!

  It was easy peasy! :) And, I absolutely LOVE the results!  

After

Here's a close-up of the drawer.  Before I transferred the image I painted and sanded with 220.  After I transferred the image I sealed with a coat of poly because I wanted to stain it and I didn't want the stain to smear the ink.  When the poly was dry I stained over it with Early American from Minwax.  When the stain was dry I gave it another coat of poly.  Oh my gosh--I can't even tell you how happy they make me!  

I wanted a little softer look to go with the drawers so I left the top wood.  It's so pretty.  There are a few imperfections, but I think that's what I love about doing older pieces. :)

Love a black, distressed Queen Anne leg!!

Doing my internal happy dance, so I don't freak my kids out!!  

Couldn't decide if I wanted to line the inside which is why the fabric isn't attached, thus the wrinkle in the back corner!  Did anyone notice that but me??!

SOLD

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