ORNATE SHABBY WHITE BUFFET reveal with a before and after

This buffet has been perched in my back room
for five months longingly looking my way every
time I pass by to use the shower. I had huge plans
for it right from the beginning but the work was
going so slow while other things were also
demanding my attention. The final hurdle was
to refinish the inside, and make it look as good
as the outside.

   

I found some vintage striped wallpaper in a soft turquoise and I used it on the back panel. To match

 the rest of the cabinet interior with the paper I mixed some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Florence and 

Pure White and painted away.

  TIP: 

Remove your backer board to make it super easy to paint inside and wallpaper the backer.

The middle door seen in the above photo came fixed in place so I ripped it out and made it useable.

Seriously why did they make so many pieces of furniture with fixed panels back in the day?

The underside of the cabinet got beefed up with some lumber so I could install an incredible set of

 legs and get it off the floor. I filled the original hardware holes and installed a set of antique drop pulls.

   

BEFORE                       AFTER

Till next time ... Kristy

ADDING BUFFET LEGS beefing up the frame

Most of the time I have to pull out all my wood working

skills and sometimes even the swear jar to get some legs

install on furniture. While working on this buffet outside

in the warmth of last summers sun I took several photos

to show how the frame was built and what I would have

to do so I could install a set of legs.  

I imagined a heavy duty set of carved legs added to this cabinet, just like the picture above.

I even had the perfect set sitting in a crate in my back room waiting for the right project

to come along. But first I would need to get underneath and see how this thing was built.

That is really the trick to adding legs to old pieces of furniture, how was it originally built?

As I tipped the cabinet up I start to freak out expecting to find water damage or MDF underneath

but once I laid her down on her back it was like a choir singing and the sun parting the clouds in the sky 

She was perfect and in great shape!

There was a solid thick frame of wood on three sides (#1), all I had to do was add another piece

of solid wood from side to side across the back (#2). This would strengthen the entire cabinet

and serve as the platform the legs would be installed on. 

I measured the length and off to my parts tent I went to find some lumber. The next stop

was at the chop saw to cut the new piece before screwing it into place. With a solid wood

frame on all four sides I could now screwed the wood legs onto each corner using 3 inch

long screws, four per leg. You can see the heads of all four screws in the photo below.

Adding legs to a small nightstand is one thing but lifting a large cabinet onto legs needs to be taken

 seriously and done right. In the future this cabinet could hold expensive items like a TV or heavy

 dishes and no one wants there to be an accident because the alterations werent strong enough. This

 close up shot above shows you the thickness of the wood I worked with and the strength of the build.

These legs are solid wood and originally came from a living room side table that had a damaged top.

BEFORE                  AFTER

Another small addition that had an impact on the shape of the new buffet was an applique I used

 along the bottom front. I have a few more of them listed on FIRSTFINDS Etsy if you would like

to purchase one for your project. Click on this link:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/213857032/1-long-flaminco-wood-applique-furniture

Till next time ... Kristy