Distressed Turquoise Buffet

For my first ever blog, I thought I would talk about a beautiful piece of furniture that I just posted to my Etsy store www.etsy.com/shop/savardstudios  and will also be placing it in my Eeeklectic Town booth at the Dilworth Blacklion www.eeeklectictown.com .  I love refurbishing old, solid wood furniture. I picked this piece up from Craig’s List for $65. It was solid maple and very heavy.  A steal!

 But I quickly had buyer’s remorse. It needed some re-gluing, one of the bullet catches was broken and the hardware was horrible and not a standard size. It was requiring more work than I had hoped. So I let it sit…for months. Finally, I had a vision. I didn’t want to go with same old same old antiqued ivory. I wanted something bold and spectacular! Turquoise! And bronze! Perfect! I found some time to work on it. I decided I wanted the top to remain stained, but it was pretty scratched up. I retrieved my trusty palm sander and striped the top down to the bare wood. I wanted a warm but dark finish. I started with a coat of cedar stain. Looked a little like the original early American style (yuk!) When that was dry, I put a coat of jacobean stain over that. Jacobean is a dark brownish black. It was perfect to tone down some of the red, but still beautiful and warm. I also strategically placed the Jacobean stain to be darker in some areas. I varnished it with a satin varnish. I thought it turned out great!

For the base, I wanted the boldness of turquoise and bronze (love some metallics!).  I used a bronze metallic base paint that’s actually a primer and basecoat in one. One day I will turn you on to my favorite place to get my furniture primer. Of course I scuff sanded the old finish so my primer would bond properly.  I also filled the original hardware holes. I measured and redrilled new holes for the new hardware.  I coated the base and inside the drawers and doors in another primer tinted to Porter/PPG Calypso blue. I used a primer for this also, because I didn’t want to do the bronze inside the doors and drawers. Just saving a little time.

After this dried for a few days, I used a 100 grit sanding block and lightly scuffed all the high points (areas that would naturally wear). I also add some in the body of the doors and drawers and sides. To tone down the blue, I made a glaze using van dyke brown acrylics and latex glazing liquid. I brushed on the glaze and buffed it off with some cheeseclothe. After drying for several days, I top coated the finish with a flat latex varnish.

I searched the web for new hardware, which I found in two different places online. http://www.etsy.com/shop/WenziPlace
http://myworld.ebay.com/alforu2buy

 The final product!

Obviously, it’s not for my dining room. It wouldn’t match my turquoise silk drapes. But it’s available at the local Dilworth Blacklion in Charlotte, NC or online through my Etsy store. I would love to hear your comments!