Bow Front Buffet in Coco

Hello!
I'm back from our little vacay to Arizona.  We had a lot of fun and I think it was a good little get away for all of us.  Ania asked me what my favorite part was and I think climbing Camelback Mountain was it.  Which is funny because I honestly thought Flight for Life was going to have to remove me from the top.  Thank goodness coming down was easier on the ol' ticker than going up!

I have a few customs to finish up before I'm done for the summer.  I can't say, at this point, that I'm sad about that.  I'm hoping the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" will be applicable in September. :)

This buffet is actually the bottom of a buffet/hutch combo.  My client wanted to use them as two separate pieces so the bottom will be used as a media console and the top will be repurposed (next project so stay tuned!).  When they took the hutch off, the top of the buffet needed to be replaced which is why it looks new. :)  A good friend, who happens to make custom cabinets, made the top for my client and then she dropped it off for some TLC.  And, boy did it need it!

It's all mahogany veneers and they were in pretty rough shape in parts.  I ended up having to remove all the veneer off of one of the drawers, the edge of the top drawer, and the whole bottom strip.  I sanded it  smooth, stained it dark with java gel, then sealed with shellac before painting. 

 Before

 After

I never really jumped on the chalk paint wagon, so still pretty much use latex.  But, I do love some of ASCP colors.  This one is very close to Coco, but is really Virtual Taupe by Sherwin Williams.  I then glazed it with a dark brown glaze. I use a damp cloth when wiping the glaze off so it's not so dark (as opposed to wiping with a dry cloth) or streaky.  The only problem with this is if your paint hasn't cured you can rub it off easily.  Of course, I was too impatient and ended up having to repaint parts because I rubbed too much paint off.  You would think I would have learned by now, but nope!

One of the original pulls was missing so I replace them all with this cup pulls (my favorites) and kept the originals on the doors.  The pulls had been sitting in my garage for a while so they were pretty dusty.  When I washed them off it dried them out and they were really dry looking (which is not what I was going for), so I simply rubbed them with some vegetable oil and then wiped clean.  Good as new! 

 The top was new so was very easy to work with.  I used  Java Gel by General Finishes and then finished with 3 coats of Minwax Polyacrylic in satin. Ga-orgeous! 

I almost always paint the insides too!  

I'm still getting over some hard feelings this baby left me with so I can't quite say I love it...check back with me tomorrow. ;)