When Susan first saw this battered buffet, it was anything but love at first sight. Water stains, peeling veneer, and missing drawer pulls — this buffet had them all. Thankfully, it also had wonderful lines, solid construction, and some beautiful carved legs peeping through the grime and abuse. With a gritty determination, Susan set out to restore this buffet to reflect its proud past.
After her attempts to remove some deep scratches in the veneer failed, she decided the veneer had to go — easier said than done! Susan's buffet was made back in the days of quality construction, so the veneer on top was thick; so thick, in fact, that the ironing trick didn't work and she had to break out a butane torch to soften the glue enough to make veneer removal possible. Thankfully the veneer on the drawer fronts was thin enough to basically sand off.
Once the veneer was gone, Susan was delighted by the wood grain revealed on the top and drawers of the buffet. She stained these portions in dark walnut before painting the base of the unit in Annie Sloan's Coco. She ordered replacement drawer pulls online to complete the makeover of her formerly battered (and now beautiful) buffet.
See More: Uniquely Yours...Or Mine!: Buffet Revitalization...Seriously
(Images: Susan/Uniquely Yours...Or Mine!)
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Beatriz's Fun & Functional Workspace
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sheex Bedding
How to Make Easy 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
Gorgeous!!!!
Wow!! And can someone explain the, uh, "ironing trick" mentioned?
The end result was worth all the hard work. Using a butane torch would have scared the hell out of me!
Nice save, well done.
stunn ning .
@Sprayfaint, I was wondering the same thing, myself and found this blog entry: http://www.designsponge.com/2010/11/before-and-after-basics-veneer-issues.html Perhaps this is what the author meant by "ironing trick?"
This is a beautiful make-over though. It makes me want to go thrifting for old furniture!
BEAUTIFUL!
well done!!! i never use the word fabulous but i guess this time i will, so Fabulous!!!!
classy.
Oh oh... am I the only one who doesn't like it that much? It looks great, don't get me wrong. But I feel it no longer has the class it had before.....
a more striking color like gold or deep marine blue for the trims could also be interesting
Love the wood grain, and the hardware looks great! The distressed look isn't my taste, but the contrast between the wood grain and the white paint really sets off those fabulous curves.
@PVPR: get yourself some glasses, there was no "class" before, that thing had been abused to the point of torture. I don't usually do the 'don't be negative' crap but really, that you would bring up it's "class" in the before.
Can't believe anyone would criticize this after. Even if the paint color is not your taste, the sheer amount of work involved is incredibly impressive and deserves recognition. Not every wood salvage piece can avoid paint, there's a lot of things you don't want to stain over.
Great job Susan, you've definitely inspired me to not overlook nice furniture with bad veneer!
stunning!
@PVPR, you're not the only one.
I am personally now doubled over in joy when I look at it. I definitely commend you for all your work, and I think you've done a great job in your own way. I however wouldn't use the word "class", but more so.....character. I think it lost a little character, but gained something else; something that I can't put my finger on. IMO.
@JESS13, I don't think PVPR was being negative at all. Opinions are like nipples, everyone has one; some more than others.
Nice job on this. You've clearly made a nice piece out of something that was on it's last legs. Most people would've scrapped it but, obviously, you saw the potential and value in it.
@TAO_GENEVA I agree. I think if you're going to do something to modernize a piece (i.e. stained and painted, which I think is a fairly modern take) then Shabbi-fying the paint seems out of context.
A smooth paint job in gold, blue, sage or something that would compliment and existing color scheme would be very interesting.
Regardless, nice work and a very nice piece of furniture has been saved.
.PS AT - can we have more of these projects please??? KTHXBAI
It took me a second, but then I decided I really like it! Funny, I've never been a fan of "shabby chic" painting, but I really like the color contrast and overall it's a splendid job!
congrats.
Although it nicely done, I am with PVPR and OwlGirl0.
irons are often used to reheat the glue on peeling veneer [or veneer something in the first place]. it basically reactivates the glue and both keeps it on, and smoothes it out. if the veneer is too far gone gold or silver leaf in a nice dull finish.
Beautiful piece and one well deserved badass high-five for pulling out the butane torch.
Agreed that I would have used a darker colour, but hey - I didn't torch it. You did.
Gorgeous!
Meh. Painted wood: the vinyl top of furniture?
*sigh* You really took the veneer off? If the veneer was thick, that means it's not exactly modern. And in the hands of a professional, it can be fixed, even if you might think it's too far gone/chipped/stained/scratched/whatever. I hesitate to say that the piece might have been valuable if properly restored* but stuff like this makes me twitch a little bit. But if the owner is happy, fine I guess.
*Also, Apartment Therapy: the word restore is not appropriate here.
To each his/her very own.
Wow! This is the piece I did! So excited it has been featured by you.. Thanks so much! I appreciate ALL of the comments, even the more critical ones.. Where this color combination isn't my favorite different combinations move different people... The veneer was truly too far gone to repair (with my skill set) in order to accept stain and not look like a repair.. Trust me, if I can save it, and it's good wood, I try! Thanks again for all of the feedback, it is TRULY appreciated!
It looks fantastic, nice save!
Gorgeous. Inspirational. Thank you.
Honestly I thought the After was the Before... The stained portions look great, but the putty colored portions just look like they're unfinished and waiting to be stained too. I agree with some other posters that the base would look better in a deeper color with a smooth finish (no distressing).
lovely, lovely work. What a fantastic piece.
I restored a buffet a couple years ago and kept the chipped veneer. It's a hard call, when you're in your basement/carport/driveway/etc trying to figure out which of the 10,000 possibilities to chose from. I live in an older farmhouse, so it fits here, but I can see how a different house or setting would ask for a different decision.
Unfortunately you can only make one final selection for one piece of furniture! :)
Aside from the distractingly awful distressing on the side, this is pretty cute. The paint/wood mix is always a gamble, but I definitely like this pairing, it looks classy to me. I just don't understand why people try to do faux-aging, it just takes almost anything you do that to from cute to tacky instantly.
I agree with PVPR and OWLGIRLO , there's just something not quite right about it. I can see that it was in need of saving for sure, but the way it was done... Where PVPR used classy, I would say classic. This piece is a classic and taking it somewhere different (shabby chic) is just not what this piece is supposed to be.
I really want to like this. I appreciate the effort, but I'm not feeling this one so much. Sorry.
UHG. that after makes me cry on the inside >< it could have been amazing! but that horrible distress paint... wow... its so bad. and taking the veneer OFF?!?!?!?!?! /weeps