A New Entry Buffet

Here is my second attempt at furniture refinishing! I have had an entry table for years that I like a lot. It is black with some distressing straight from the factory. It is cute...but it only serves one purpose...a holder for decorative items. Since moving to our new house, I have been at a loss for a place to store my crafty projects in progress and crafty tools that are used often enough to warrant keeping them close. So I decided I needed an entry table that served as a storage facility as well as decoration. So, I searched and searched and finally found a gal with a great shape and a great price tag.

I found her at the DI for 40$. In pretty good shape, with the exception of one drawer that needed a little assistance if anything was going to be put in the drawer. Her major malfunction... she was sporting a hideous red/orange varnish look. Now, red and rust are the two main colors of my color scheme on the main floor of my home; but not like that! So I removed the finish with paint remover (the particular one boasted of a 15 minute processing time...and it delivered!). I restained her with a water-based gel stain. I really love the color...but I can see striping from my brush-strokes. If anyone has any advise on avoiding that in the future...please leave a comment about it. I'm just a wee beginner in need of a guiding hand.

I went ahead and used the original hardware. I think it is charming. I replaced the bottom wood from one of the drawers with the help of Home Depot worker to cut the wood sheet for me. That was handy! The rest of the drawers were in great condition. But I thought to add a little pazazz to this little lady, I would give her some cutesy drawer lining... which is cute scrapbook paper Modge Podeged in place. It makes me smile when I open the drawers!!

Whoever put the orangy/red varnish on her last time did a great job applying it to her body, but dripped it all over her so stylish shoes (she sports wheels on the bottom of her legs...and they were all gummed up with the stuff). I soaked the wheels in paint remover and scrubbed them with a wire brush and poked at them with toothpicks and all sorts of things as I tried to get that gunk out of the wheels. I met with modest success...but not complete success. I think I spent about as much time working on the wheels as I did removing the stuff from the whole rest of the dresser! Anyway, now she is all moved in and a bunch of my crafting gear has found a new home!

I'm sharing this beauty with: