Let me tell you all about this buffet…. I think it literally gave me a stomach ulcer! When I first started painting furniture, I wanted to buy a buffet exactly like this one to go under my TV in my living room as a Tv console. Now mind you I have a small home with very tall ceilings. Like 26 feet tall. So I needed something really unique and a special to make a statement in my small space. So when this buffet came across on FB marketplace and I was so super excited to go buy it! Like literally I could not even sleep! I messaged the seller who was very kind and I made plans to pick it up the following morning. She helped me load it and even taught me how to use a ratchet strap..because well I was new to this whole furniture buying experience and there are so many things you don’t even know you need to learn.

Later that day my husband helped me unload it and the rosie colored buffet glasses came off. That morning I didn’t notice the chipped veneer, or the missing trim pieces. I didn’t even think about the feet…they were chipped and severely damaged. As I touched it parts of the ornate detailing fell apart in my hands. My husband laughed and said it looks like you bought yourself a nice workbench. Oh.my.goodness!! I had actually paid for this!! I thought this is it…It’s over. I can’t fix all this! So Mr. buffet sat in my garage for about a month and he made a terrific workbench!

When I started my furniture painting business, I knew I wanted to do something different than what the other painters in my area were doing. I decided to use this buffet as a practice board for a different style of abstract painting. So when I bought a new kind of Clay based paint, I knew I could test it out on this buffet. Because no one is going to want a buffet with a missing trim piece, right? So I did this….(And you can see it is in full use as a workbench!!)

And I left it alone for a few weeks and moved on to other projects. I had a few fun colorful tables and such in there and when I had an extra minute and a wet paintbrush I added to this buffet. And he sat…and sat…until one warm day in December (It was weird warm for December) I decided to go ahead and finish that darn buffet!! It took everything out of me because at the time I thought it was my job to make every piece perfect again.

But let me tell you..all the imperfections I was getting sick over for the last couple months ended up making this piece look amazing! I learned something really awesome about being a furniture artist from this piece. That when you highlight the imperfections it makes the pieces all that more unique. Look at how awesome chipped veneer looks highlighted with some colorful paint!

When I finally finished this stomach ulcer of a project I was so happy with the way it turned out. It didn’t fit my style for my living room but it sold as soon as I posted it. I learned so much about furniture flipping with this buffet. It is my favorite project to date maybe because it was one of my first pieces.