Formal Buffet Project

This was a buffet that belonged to my husband and his late wife.  It was very dark mahogany and while it was perfect for that time in history, it was a bit too dark for the tiny space where I needed to put it.  I began to research some colors that would work, and I decided on Dixie Belle chalk paint rather than Annie Sloane for no reason.  I happened to see it in a store and liked the color.   It did not have a buffet top at the time.  The hutch top was added at a later date by a dear friend who made it from lumber found at the Home Depot.    

 

I began this project as I do all my chalk painting projects thoroughly cleaning whatever project you are working on with mineral spirits to remove all the dirt and wax so you are working on a clean palette.  

On this piece, I switched to Dixie Belle paint.  The color was Burlap.  I painted it all over with two coats.  Then, I went back over it with medium grade sandpaper and sanded it wherever I wanted the appearance of a distressed piece.  You may sand either before or after you wax.  I prefer sanding before waxing but it doesn't matter.  Just make certain to get all the particles removed from the sanding process.  I use my hand vacuum.  

I then took approximately 2 Tbsp. of Annie Sloan dark wax and mixed with 4 Tbsp. of white wax.  The reason I do this is that you can always go back and make it darker but it's much more difficult to go lighter.  I use a large round waxing brush to apply the wax.  Do a section at a time and then use a soft cloth to shine your wax.  You can also use Johnson paste wax and achieve the same result without any added aging.  For my polishing cloths, I cut up my husband's old tee-shirts.  When the piece was all waxed and finished, I used a coat of Dixie Belle Gatorhide to ensure a hard finish.

Now, getting the hutch top that was attached a year later to match was a challenge; however, I am never turned away by a good challenge.  This was raw hardwood with no finish so I first applied a coat of Kiehl's sealer paint on to seal the wood.  Next, I made it dark mahogany with a dark stain.  Funny back story...while I was staining the underneath, I laid my head in the varnish, of course by mistake.  (I have silver hair) and for the next two hours, I was a victim to a rag soaked in turpentine while my sweet husband asked "Why on earth would you do that?" But being the sweetheart he is, he tried his best to remove it and in the end, he couldn't remember the word for the color of hair I had so he commented, "Well, it looks as though you spent a lot of money on 'that' hair."  I was hoping the word was balayage.  That was definitely it for the day, but not for the project that I was determined to complete.  Wine was definitely in order as I toasted my new hair color whatever it was called. 

After the stain was applied to the hutch, I let it dry for 24 hours.  Then I followed with two coats of Dixie Belle Burlap paint.  When dried, I sanded and waxed as above followed by the Dixie Belle Gatorhide.  The match was perfect as you can see from the picture. 

By the way, the hair returned to normal after a few months and some creative hair cuts.