Well I have quite a transformation to share with you today! As I told you yesterday, I have a client right now who is looking for an elegant room with a touch of nature. The design I came up with calls for a number of pieces, one of them being a console/buffet table. The main purpose of this piece will be to hold and hide toys and to provide a place for a few lamps to sit. This piece needed to be rather substantial because the room is quite large. I searched for a while and ended up deciding that a piece I already had in my possession would actually be perfect in form and function. Of course it needed a little makeover in order to fit in with the style of the elegant space!
Here’s what the piece looked like BEFORE I started my makeover. . .
Ok, actually I got one drawer painted before I remembered to take a “before” picture. But you get the gist. It was a big black box with some gray borders.
And here’s the AFTER. . .
Nothing says elegant like a bit of gold leafing and knew that this needed to be part of the design. Luckily the buffet already had some routed out borders around the doors which created the perfect opportunity to add a little bit of sophisticated bling! 🙂
I didn’t want to stop at the doors because it just felt a little off balance to me. . .
So I decided to add some more gold leaf to the drawer corners and to the medallion in the center of the piece.
Now, the gold leafing definitely took this buffet’s style up a few notches, but I think the gorgeous wood top is perfect because it states “I’m elegant and natural.” There’s almost nothing more attractive to me that a pristine piece of wood. After quite a bit of sanding I got this top down to the bare bones. Then, rather than stain it, I put a few coats of oil based polyurethane on and allowed the natural wood grain to show itself off!
And then, like I commented on yesterday, I searched for some wooden handles that would take the warm wood tone down on to the front of the dresser.
I really love this transformation! For those interested, I used Annie Sloan chalk paint and then coated it with oil based poly to darken/deepen the color. I feel like the end product looks like it’s an expensive antique with a story rather than a newly painted piece void of any character.
What do you think!?
I agree, the natural warmth of the wood top can’t be beat! Sounds like you really had to work (sand) to discover and reveal the wood (such a shame that I loathe sanding or I might try this myself) Love how you combined natural, fancy (gilding), and functional (paint) elements all in one piece.
Robin
happilyhomeafter.blogspot.com
Hey Robin! There was a lot of sanding involved, but luckily we have a good electrical sander so it went faster than I thought it would. 🙂 Thanks for the comments! By the way,all the recipes on your blog look so delicious. . . if only I was a cook! 🙂
This is gorgeous! Not my style, but I can certainly appreciate your vision for it. Excellent job!
I love it! It looks beautiful.
GORGEOUS! I refinished a dresser last week and used a liquid sander recommended by the guy at the hardware store. Have you ever used a liquid sander for any of your projects? It seemed to work well. I’m hoping there are no surprises in the next few months.
Well thanks Missy! I love that I get to create things that I wouldn’t necessarily be my style, but that I still think are beautiful as part of my job! Thanks for your sweet comments!
Oh my goodness Jen, I can hardly look at your blog. . . I think I’m a food addict. The only things that keeps me skinny is the fact that I hate cooking and I like to work out! 🙂 But looking at all your amazing recipes and photos makes me want to drive to the local bakery and stuff my face! haha! Thanks for the comments! 🙂
Hey Gail!!! Hope things are going well in show business! 🙂 I watched your reel. . it looks great! I have never used liquid sander, but it sounds like a great option if you’re simply looking to repaint a piece. It’s good to hear you had some luck with it! I will certainly remember that next time I go to sand something. What brand did you use? Are the fumes pretty bad?
Hope to run into you on set sometime in the future!
Love this transformation! I’m a new reader and I have to say that I really appreciate your passion for what you do. It comes across in every project that y’all take on and I believe in this business you really have to enjoy being creative! It doesn’t hurt that you seem like THE sweetest person either :). Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely gorgeous! I love that you searched for those pulls – they look so custom!
Love it! I actually really love the gold leafing – I used it for my desk I did for the local shop. I think it gives it a nice pop with the shimmer and texture!
<3 Hope you have a kickin' weekend!
http://arkadianbellewoods.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/all-that-glitters-desk-redux/
Wow love that gold leaf. The dresser looks really great.
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Amazing!