When Cynthia picked up the server above at auction, it was completely covered in that creamy yellow paint; she was so eager to begin the redo, she didn't even take true before pics! Though not a fan of the paint treatment, Cynthia loved the lines of this little server and price tag of $20 was hard to pass up. Deciding to return this piece to its natural state, she got to work stripping and refinishing…
Though Cynthia estimates she spent 25-30 hours on this piece, the end result is certainly worth the investment. The beautiful wood grain of the quarter sawn oak shines though the light stain highlighting the craftsmanship that went into creating this server in the first place. Though painting damaged furniture can be a great way to extend the life of a piece, it is always lovely to see the process reversed and the antique wood grain revealed.
For more pictures of this lovely redo, check out Simply Chic Treasures: Refinished Oak Server.
Images: Cynthia at Simply Chic Treasures.
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That is insanely beautiful. Color me jealous.
definitely the right kind of refininshing project!
Way to go Cynthia, what a beautiful After! I would never have the patience...
Bravo!
Amazing!
This is case in point as to why people get up in arms over "should I paint this?" questions. I know, sometimes it's not a masterpiece in question, and painting is fine, but just look at that after - gorgeous!!
Ah! I love it. Natural wood is always the way to go over flat paint, in my humble opinion.
wow. The before looked cheap and dated, and the after looks rich and timeless. delightful.
gorgeous!
See...We've been telling you that you've been undervaluing wood by painting it. (At least some of the time.)
the wood looks beautiful - well done!
Oooh! Really pretty!
What a pretty piece! Great job!
So beautiful! I love someone NOT painting a piece for once. Great job.
Wonderful what you've done with this piece, it's so natural and right
Cynthia is our hero!
I agree with Ellabee. We do undervalue natural thing much of the time. We can go and find mass produced things to fill up our spaces or we can find pieces like this to give new life to.
I meant things, not thing. and older mass produced pieces bought second hand can be lovely and deserving of a second chance.
beautiful tablescape as well!
Great rescue!
that is a really fantastic piece. i love the feet.
This piece is gorgeous! So fresh after the many "just put some shiny paint on it" transformations.
Brava!
Love it! Love the natural oak! Love that it's not a paint it over again project!
Awesome! I love da feet, so cute!
OTOH, who are you going to be buying $20 pieces from if everyone elects to refinish? :p
Cynthia, you added value and beauty.
beautiful! good for you
Fabulous! Finally, a before and after where the paint comes off instead of goes on. Hooray!
Amazing. I would never have guessed there was something nice under all that paint.
Wow... that's a lot of work, and you did it beautifully. Bravo!
Very nice job and you got some great value for your elbow grease :)
Just like everyone else here, I'm celebrating the fact that the ugly matt paint was removed to reveal the beautiful wood grain underneath, as opposed to the opposite scenario that we normally see on these pages. Probably a lot more work and risk involved, but what a great result. Congratulations.
Thank you for this! I am so sick of people painting beautiful pieces, and hearing people complain about the people that think it's a shame to ruin them. There are pieces that are not special enough or in good enough shape to worry about...paint and repaint those. Then there are quality pieces that were made with some real craftsmanship that just aren't being made anymore and they need to be saved. Thankfully Cynthia is one of the people that could recognize this. Well done.
And THAT, folks, is why us "wood purists" all you ATers complain about usually like "befores" better. This after is amazeballs.
Beautiful!
This is awesome.
Oh yeah. This is gorgeous. I just dont get this "DIY MANIA" of painting every single piece of wood. Well done !
Beautiful piece! Congrats!
Wow, I hate you this is amazing!!! Excellent job and excellent eye!
Thanks for reminding us how beautiful an old piece of furniture can be.
Wow!!!
Wood purists unite! Haha. Love it! Also love the tiny stars hanging off the knobs.
Gorgeous wood; would look even better without the wheels.
Now that's what I'm talkin' about!! I too stand as a wood purist who also has commented when lovely wood pieces have been painted hipster-yellow and showcased on AT. As someone who spent almost 4 months (part time project) lovingly restoring a Heywood Wakefield dresser I scored at our local Good Will for the insanely low price of 9 bucks, I understand the agony and then joy you must have felt as you painstakingly sanded the wood to its natural beauty! Bravo on a job well done!
It's great that underneath the paint there was that lovely wood grain. Some wooden furniture is meant to be painted, but clearly not this item!
It's gorgeous. And I appreciate the estimate of the time spent on doing this. The reports of projects that only take "an afternoon" always make me feel inadequate.
Wow, bold move. Most times stripping paint uncovers nasty knots and ugly grain but this one is just exceptional. I can't believe they covered up such beautiful wood with such ugly paint.
@shannont I am so jealous! And on behalf of all the other purists, thanks.
how cute!!!
Great job!! Thank you for preserving this beautiful piece of furniture! It's gorgeous!
Beautiful job! I refinished an oak piece and it retained the color of the paint in the grain so I repainted it. I think you have to be careful that there ARE layers of old varnish in between the natural grain and the paint.
Awesome.
Truly.
Wow, that wood is stunning. Nice job.
This is such a slap in the face to the AT "before and after" feature from a while back, in which someone was applauded for applying the yellow paint to this very table. I look forward to the table's next appearances, in which it will be: pickled; decoupaged with map fragments; sawed off halfway up to make a coffee table; etc. etc.
Gorgeous!
nice, I recently bought a gorgeous server thats been (poorly) painted a hideous pale green color. I was planning on stripping it but I don't know if I have the commitment of 25-30 hours in me. I'll probably just resort to painting it over in a less offensive color...
Way to go from shabby chic to something that could be on the set of "Mad Men!"
The former owners probably didn't even know what they had. Gotta love quarter-sawn oak.
wow, fabulous job !!
Hah, first time I've seen a paint-to-wood before/after on AT. Love it!
Finally, a piece is actually refinished. It's so beautiful.
Great job!
My husband (contractor and wood fanatic) cringes when people paint gorgeous wood. Beautiful job!
You did a beautiful job ...the server is stunning now!