My sister-in-law gave me this buffet last summer and I loved that it was made of solid wood. I spent months dreaming about the different ways I would eventually take on a upcycled buffet project and finish it. From the beginning, my options were open as far as staining and painting go. But in the end, I decided on high gloss white paint. The more glossy = the more kid friendly.
I’m no expert at upcycling furniture. However, I do pride myself on doing extensive research before almost every project (and every purchase too–those Amazon reviews are golden!). After a lot of searching, I decided to move forward and just get this thing done. After all, the hardest part of any project is just getting it started.
Summarized version of the upcycled buffet:
- Remove hardware, doors, and drawers.
- Sand.
- Prime.
- Paint.
- Reassemble.
Long version of the upcycled buffet:
Once I removed the hardware, doors, and drawers. I began by sanding the whole thing with 150 grit sandpaper. According to my research, the goal is to remove the shine from the original stain until a matte finish is left–so you don’t have to go crazy trying to get to bare wood.
After the sanding was done, I primed the buffet with several coats of Glidden Gripper White Primer and Sealer.
Then, I used Behr Hi-Gloss Ultra White Enamel. I did have to do a few coats of the primer and the paint to get enough coverage. And I let every coat dry before adding another.
For the hardware, I cleaned each of the pieces and then spray painted them rose gold using Rust-Oleum Rose Gold. It’s hard to tell in the overall photo, so here’s a close up.
For additional protection, I lined each drawer with marble contact paper which I ordered from Amazon.
Once everything was dry, I reassembled the buffet and threw on some decor. Including my family portrait in a frame that I upcycled from a garage sale, and an engineering print that cost me about $3. (Next project: updating our family portrait!)
** I forgot to mention, if your piece is pretty scratched up or dented, you can use wood filler to make it look like new. I used it in several spots and it made a huge difference in fixing the imperfections.**
Have you done an upcycled buffet project before? Let me know in a comment below!
