Vintage Antique Buffet Makeover

I knew the moment that I seen this beautiful vintage antique buffet, that I could give it the makeover that it needed. See how I made this buffet over with a step by step tutorial.

DIY Painted Vintage Antique Buffet Makeover

I found this antique buffet on our local marketplace. I am always drawn to furniture pieces that have straight lines, that are solid wood and well built.

So, I talked my husband into driving just about an hour to pick this piece up. It was sitting in a barn and took three of us to load it into the bed of the truck. This piece is heavy and it has a lot of storage space!

How to Makeover an Antique Buffet

This buffet was in good shape considering that it is an old piece! There are features like dove tailed drawers and I believe it has the original knobs. However, it had some knob pieces missing, the back piece was falling off and it was very scratched up. Therefore, it was the perfect piece to makeover.

Antique Vintage Buffet Makeover | Video

Step 1: Gather the Supplies

The supplies that I needed to successfully makeover this antique buffet were new knobs, paint, a paint brush, sander and sand paper. I also need nail hole filler, a drill bit and a drill.

Since I was replacing the back on the buffet, I made a quick trip to my local hardware store to pick everything up. I had already measured the back of the buffet and knew exactly was size of plywood I would need. The guys working were wonderful and very willing to cut the plywood, therefore saving me from doing it once I got home.

Step 2: Start Sanding

The buffet apparently had several makeovers before I purchased it. I started sanding the top down and it seemed that there was multiple layers of stain and probably polyurethane. The more I sanded, the more I loved it! The wood underneath was simply gorgeous!

Step 3: Remove Knobs and Fill Holes

The next step that I needed to do was to remove all the knobs. I wanted a more shaker style look to my antique buffet makeover, and therefore chose unpainted wooden knobs.

Because, I was only going to need one of the screw holes, I filled all the extra holes with nail hole filler. The doors on the buffet had the knobs in the middle, and I wanted the knob on the side of the door. So, I did have to drill new holes for the doors.

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Step 4: Sand the Drawer Fronts and Doors

I didn’t do a lot sanding on the drawers or doors. I simply needed to sand the nail hole filler smooth and to remove the indentation from the previous knobs.

Step 5: Replace the Back

I reused the original nails and nailed a plywood back on the buffet. While this antique buffet will currently reside in the kitchen, that is not the permanent place for it.

Eventually, this will be a bathroom vanity for the master bathroom in our home! I am so excited to already have this piece and a plan for its final spot in our home. A bathroom remodel may be another year away, and so for now it will be the kitchen island. Anyhow, the reason I chose plywood for the back is because I know that eventually we won’t see that part of it.

Step 6: Replace the Knobs

For this furniture makeover I chose unpainted wooden knobs. I love the simple farmhouse, shaker style. The knobs come with the screws and I simply replaced them using the holes that I had not filled with nail hole filler.

Again, the doors were the only areas that I had to create new holes in order to put the knobs on.

Step 8: Clean

It was extremely essential to a very thorough job cleaning the buffet. Because, there was a lot of dust from the sanding and the time that it had been in storage.

I used a vacuum to remove as much dust as I could and to vacuum up all the cobwebs in the corners. Then, I used a wet rag to wash down all the areas on the inside of the drawers and all the exterior surfaces.

Step 9: Stain

The next step was to stain the top of the antique buffet. I used paper towels to apply the stain, then more paper towels to remove any excess stain. For the top of the buffet, it only needed one coat of stain.

You guys! I couldn’t believe how beautiful the wood looked with the stain! It soaked right into the wood giving me the exact look that I wanted. I used Minwax Jacobean stain.

Step 10:Paint

The longest process of all was painting this antique buffet. I chose to use Valspar Cabinet Paint in a color called Heather by Dunn Edwards. Since there isn’t a Dunn Edwards in our area, our local hardware store was able to mix it for me.

The color I chose is a color that lends itself to a creamy light gray color. It’s so beautiful and I love how sometimes it looks more white and then other times more gray. A lot of it depends on the lighting in our home at various times of the day.

Painting is always time consuming and it took two coats to fully cover this antique buffet. After the two coats of paint were applied, I left all the drawers and doors open to dry for 12 hours.

Before and After Vintage Antique Buffet Makeover

The results of this vintage antique buffet makeover was just stunning! I think the paint and knobs completely transformed it’s style. It’s now a style that fits more into my home of the simple farmhouse, shaker style.

Farmhouse Vintage Buffet Kitchen Island

As I mentioned earlier, this vintage buffet will remain in the kitchen for the time being. There is incredible amounts of storage with the 4 large drawers, 2 small drawers and then the space inside the doors.

I currently have silverware in the top two smaller drawers. The middle top drawer holds all of my dish linens. The other spaces are still empty. I live minimally and everything in my kitchen could probably fit into this island.

As we move forward towards a full kitchen remodel, this piece will be very useful in keeping things stored while the work is being done. As part of the full kitchen remodel, I will be getting a new larger island. Then, this piece will be moved to the bathroom as a vanity.

Thank you so much for stopping by Rocky Hedge Farm!

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