Stripping a Vintage Buffet

When we bought this vintage buffet at auction a couple of years ago, it was a sad piece. The buffet looked like it had been left in someone’s shed for a long time and was ripe for a makeover. It sat in our shed for a year while we decided what to do with it and, then, ended up bringing it to the farm with us to replace one we sold. Over the past two years, the buffet has been SEVEN, yes seven, different colours. None of the colours suited to our hall. For me, the only option left was stripping the vintage buffet back to its natural timber!

How I Stripped the Buffet

At the time of writing, the buffet was pink. I like pink but I did not like it on the buffet. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say I have no clue why I painted it that colour! Having tried so many colours and failed to find one that went with the rugs in our hall, my plan was to bleach the wood a light colour. I thought the buffet was oak and thought a weathered finish would look nice. Plus, I’ve never tried this finish before and I was keen to give it a go.

I started by sanding with rough grit sandpaper. The buffet had seven coats of paint, plus varnish and the original finish, so I had to resort to Mr GGF’s belt sander to get most of the paint off. I also used paint stripper. I’m happy to report that chalk and milk paint was easy to remove with the paint stripper. Far easier than normal paint, despite the layers. I finished stripping the buffet with my detail sander which got into the hard to reach places. I then smoothed all the edges by using a fine 120 grit sandpaper. The knobs were soaked overnight in paint stripper. They came up really well. All I had to do was wipe them clean with a paper towel.

Stripping the Buffet: The Finish

After stripping the vintage buffet of her layers of paint, I discovered the buffet was not oak as I first thought, but Blackwood. Bleaching or whitewashing this timber would only give it a pink tinge, the very same hue as the one I’d just spent two days removing! My original plan went out of the window.

I deliberated for some time before making the decision to stain and varnish the buffet again. As I had stain left from the cabinet I refinished earlier in the year, I went with that. It was a case of use what I had or go out to get more. Given the current COVID situation, I did not want to do that.

In the end, the vintage buffet got two coats of Cabots Maple satin stain and varnish and the knobs were sprayed with Rustoleum gold. I love the finished result. The piece looks more relaxed with this finish, rather than the original vintage finish and it blends perfectly with the oil painting I inherited recently!

If you love stripping or refurbishing your second hand finds, check out these makeovers. . .

$2 Cabinet Makeover https://blackbird-cottage.com/2-cabinet-makeover/

$7 Shelf Transformation https://blackbird-cottage.com/7-shelf-transformation/

How we updated the original double mantle https://blackbird-cottage.com/bringing-back-the-old-mantle/