Chippy Jacobean Buffet

If you saw this Jacobean buffet was for sale, would you buy it?

If you bought it, what would you do with it?

I immediately knew that I wanted it when I saw it. Stacey, the owner of Morgantown Market, offered it to me at a fabulous price, and I couldn't say no. It's a biiiiiiig piece at almost 5.5 feet long, so I took it to my parents' house for easy storage. There was no way that Marc and I could get it up the stairs to our second floor apartment. (Well, we could try but one of us would have probably wound up in the hospital or dropping it on the cat.)

Once the buffet was in my parent's house, it sat untouched for a long time. I wasn't totally sure what I wanted to do with it. It had a matching hutch cabinet that I scooped up too and I wound up using Chalk Paint ® on it.

It received a super pretty yellow and white makeover, but I couldn't decide if I wanted to do the same thing on the buffet.

I had kicked around the idea of doing a softer look with neutrals until Brenda, the owner of Painted Table Designs Home, asked me if I had a buffet in my stash. Not only did I tell her I had a buffet, I said I had the mother of all buffets! Brenda sent me a few inspiration photos from Pinterest and the winning photo was a chippy buffet painted in a soft cream with a refinished wood top.

To start, I grabbed my orbital sander and began refinishing the top.

It didn't take very long to get the original finish off. It was pretty worn from time and use. These buffets were common in the 1920's and 30's, so at its youngest, the buffet is about 80 years old! I would imagine the finish would come off easily.

After sanding the top, I finished it with General Finishes Java Gel Stain and sealed it with their High Performance Topcoat in Satin. I always finish my tops before I do my bottoms. (Just personal preference.) If you want to read more about how I refinish wood surfaces, I have several posts on the topic on my blog. Just do a quick search and they'll come up.

The finish on this piece was glossy and very shiny. Milk Paint would fall off of this if I painted it on with no prep, so I painted the entire piece with two layers of Tough Coat. Not only would this give me a surface that MMS Milk Paint would adhere to, it would seal in the dark color of the original stain.

My cream color that I picked was a custom 50/50 mix of Linen and Marzipan. I wanted the warm almond color of Marzipan...

...to be balanced by the creamy off-white color of Linen.

The result was an absolutely gorgeous cream color. The buffet took three coats total to get full coverage. After coat number two, the Milk Paint began to crack and chip. Some parts flaked off with the brush of my hand and there were natural crackles dotting their way across the surface.

Now this would have been a little scary to see if I wouldn't have seen an inspiration photo beforehand. I knew it would look good once I was finished, but I'm going to be honest...I had moments of apprehension.

I liked how the dark color of the newly refinished top tied in with the dark wood that was popping through all of the chipping patches.

Because there are so many swirls, scrolls, medallions, and ornate details on this piece, painting it all one color helped to tone it all down.

I wound up staging this piece twice - once at my parents' house and again at Painted Table Designs when I delivered it.

I picked a simple magnolia wreath at my parents' house. Even though I couldn't edit out the wall sconce, you still get the general idea, right?

This buffet has tons of storage! With two deep doors, one large drawer, and a smaller sectioned drawer, you can put anything your little heart desires inside. Use it as a coffee station, traditional buffet or a TV media cabinet!

At Painted Table Designs, Brenda flanked it with two beautiful lamps and added a barn wood mirror above it to give it a more casual look.

It's currently situated in her coastal-themed dining room and you can see it as soon as you walk in the front door!

This buffet took three loooong and full days to complete, but it was totally worth it! I'm so happy with the way it turned out. It showcases the chippiness of Milk Paint perfectly and it's ready to have another "go" being loved in someone's home. If you'd like to take this piece home, it's currently hanging out in Painted Table Designs in Elverson, Pennsylvania and is priced at $525.