Fresh And Fast Buffet Reveal

Has your design taste changed over time?

Mine certainly has and I’ve found that for a fresh take on an existing piece of furniture, it’s a few coats of chalk paint for the win.

A little paint makeover can give furniture the transformation needed to achieve the overall look you’re going for without having to go out and buying something new.

That’s what happened with this sturdy brown buffet/sideboard/bar. We bought it when we moved into our house in 2007.

I’ll sheepishly admit that I might have been going for the-then popular Tuscan look (hand over face emoji!) that called for heavy dark furniture and earthy reds for accent walls.

Style Evolution

But that was several coats of wall paint ago and the walls and some furniture, OK a lot, have been lightened. Even our couch set got a chalk paint makeover. I painted our brown Tuscan-look couch an aqua blue and amazingly it came out great. But that’s another post!

In case you think I paint everything, believe it or not, I have some pieces of dark furniture I’ll never paint.

Even though this buffet looked old-fashioned, I loved the design and functionality. Plus, it stores loads of stuff and it screamed grown-up furniture.

Before the paint, the sideboard looked way too formal and I wanted a more rustic look. It’s a heavy and useful piece of furniture that I knew we didn’t want to part with. I’m so glad I took a leap of faith and painted it because it turned out great and got a new lease on life.

It has two side cupboards with glass doors that store glasses and drinks. The inside of these cupboards light up to display the contents. The middle area is a wine rack and there’s a velvet-covered cutlery drawer in the middle.

The very top is inlaid with brown marble, also not my style now but painting the frame white has toned it down a lot.

So, it was time for the makeover. We needed it to anchor the clock wall in the kitchen/living room. It didn’t look right in the dark color against the grey wall and white clocks.

Prepping for Paint

Here’s how I painted it:

First I cleaned the entire piece with soap and water. Then I wiped that off. I didn’t sand it. I used RUST-OLEUM’s chalked ultra matte paint in White Linen, the same paint I used for the dresser and the lamps and vase.

I taped off the glass in the cabinets.

Then I set to work painting. I applied two coats of the white linen paint and I had it finished over the course of a couple of evenings.

The great thing about chalk paint is a little goes a long way and it doesn’t take long to dry.

Then I lightly distressed it, focusing on the edges and handle area.

Then I sealed it with Varathane’s polyurethane matte interior.

What do you think? The paint is going strong and holding up. The white color provides a good contrast to the brown floor and it doesn’t feel like such a heavy, dark piece of furniture any more.

This was another easy paint win.