Earlier this spring, I was contacted by a woman in my neighborhood to do a custom refinish on a midcentury buffet she had purchased from Craigslist. I met her at her home to have a look and discuss a design plan. She lives in an adorable Seattle bungalow and plans to use this buffet in her living room / entryway. The piece was in great structural condition, but had some deep scratches on the top and the usual wear from time.
She wanted to have it painted and I suggest Indigo Batik from Sherwin Williams. It is a beautiful warm indigo and I thought it would coordinate well with her decor. The original piece was also missing one of its pulls, so the hardware had to be replaced as well. To update the hardware, I suggested a few options, and my client and I both loved the idea of using brushed brass to complement the blue.
Here’s the before photo.
And here is the after.
To begin, I removed the hardware and filled the old holes with wood filler. I sanded the entire piece and then primed it with Zinsser cover stain primer that I had tinted blue. If you are planning on painting with a darker color, ask to have your primer tinted. It’s just a bit easier to cover than white primer.
I had the paint color matched to Benjamin Moore Advance paint in semi gloss. I like to use Sherwin Williams ProClassic also, but ProClassic cannot be mixed in deep colors. So,when I am painting with a dark color, I use Advance. They are both great paints. I applied three coats of paint, sanding lightly between coats. With BM Advance, the paint must dry for 16 hours before recoating. This is one drawback to Advance, but for me, it’s not an issue since I rarely have time to paint more than one coat in a day anyway. I’m a mom. Need I say more?
After the piece was fully dry, I added the new pulls. They are the Lew’s bar pulls in brushed brass from Lewis Dolin. These pulls are so pretty and they add a very clean, modern look to the buffet.
The color of the new hardware also matches the original brass piano hinges on the doors. Here’s a shot from a slightly different angle.
Oh how I love brass with blue. . .
I picked up this succulent from Trader Joe’s a few months ago and have used it for staging several of my pieces. Let me just say, this guy thrives on neglect. I basically pulled it out of the plastic pot it came in and plunked it into this cute bowl from West Elm. I water it when I remember to, keep it in a sunny spot, and it has been as happy as a clam in high tide. If you are looking for a plant that is almost as easy to care for as an artificial one, you might want to try one of these.
Thanks for stopping by.
Susan
Linking with Refresh Living, 58 Water Street and Miss Mustard Seed
Beautiful~!! I’ve been addicted to blue lately myself and this is just one more example of why I love blue so much. Well done! 🙂
Thank you! I never get tired of blue either and this is a great shade.
Susan, I just love your work. You are a true artist. You take vintage and antique pieces and restore them to better than new! Beautiful, modern and elegant without the “mandatory distressing” that so many other people automatically do. I look forward to your posts as I have learned so much from your projects. Thanks and keep them coming!
Thank you so much! Distressing just isn’t my style. I do like it on the right piece, but then only is small doses. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my blog and leave a comment! There are definitely more projects and posts on the horizon.
Beautifully done! Perfect, really. Cheers, Ardith
Thank you Ardith!
Absolutely gorgeous. Love the style and the color and appreciate your tips on what you did.
What is your wall color?
Coventry gray by Benjamin Moore
Really love the color! Another awesome piece…
Love this color combo. Beautiful execution. I’ve been wanting to do something indigo for a long time, what paint color did you use on the hucth?
Love the look of this buffet, just wanted to double check on the color. Is it Indigo Batik or just Indigo? The color swatch of the Indigo Batik seems a lot more muted and darker than what is pictured here. Just want to make sure I have the right color because I love this look and found a mid century modern buffet on Craigslist that I’m currently trying to redo and would love to do it in this color scheme.
Hi! The color is Indigo Batik. I had Benjamin Moore color match to the SW swatch. It’s a great color and I was very happy with it. Good luck with your project!
Beautiful work! Did you paint using a brush only? It looks perfect.
Thank you! I used a brush and roller for this project.
Fantastic!!!!
Thanks so much. Susan
This is so beautiful! Do you remove the doors when you paint? Do you also paint the interior?
Thank you so much! i usually remove the doors to paint. I don’t remove them if I think it may be too difficult to get them to hang properly again. I do not usually paint the interiors of cabinets or drawers. Susan
This is so beautiful! Is it possible that you can do another? I am currently looking for a navy colored buffet and this one is absolutely perfect.
Hi Rania! This is a vintage piece, so probably not something would be easy to find again. The color is a really nice blue – one of my favorites! Thanks so much for stopping by.