Love this buffet / dresser upcycle | Upcycled Buffet by popular Utah lifestyle blogger, Kara Metta: before and after image of a white upcycled buffet.

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.

The hardest part of any project is, seriously, getting started. | Upcycled Buffet by popular Utah lifestyle blogger, Kara Metta: printable quote saying, "The hardest part is simply getting started.".

Summarized version of the upcycled buffet:

  1. Remove hardware, doors, and drawers.
  2. Sand.
  3. Prime.
  4. Paint.
  5. Reassemble.

Love this buffet / dresser upcycle | Upcycled Buffet by popular Utah lifestyle blogger, Kara Metta: image of a dated buffet.

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.

Rose gold spray paint to update old hardware. | Upcycled Buffet by popular Utah lifestyle blogger, Kara Metta: image of a white buffet drawer with a gold pull handle.

For additional protection, I lined each drawer with marble contact paper which I ordered from Amazon.

Marble drawer liner contact paper. Chic way to update furniture. | Upcycled Buffet by popular Utah lifestyle blogger, Kara Metta: image of a white buffet drawer with a gold pull handle.

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!)

Buffet / dresser upcycle. Love the spray painted rose gold hardware! | Upcycled Buffet by popular Utah lifestyle blogger, Kara Metta: image of a white buffet with a black globe, faux plants, and a large black and white family photo on it.

** 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!