the queenstown gray buffet.

Published on by Quandie

I shared the ‘before’ picture of this buffet with you last week.

My friend Sue purchased this piece via Craigslist for herself.  She got as far as removing the hardware to get it ready for painting, but then she decided she didn’t really want to tackle it after all and she offered to sell it to me.

Since Sue lives only a couple of blocks away, this was one of my easiest ‘Craigslist’ pickups ever!

I waffled between using Fusion’s Midnight Blue or the General Finishes Queenstown Gray on this buffet and I think either one would have been a great choice, but in the end I went with the gray.  Had I realized I would end up posting this on St. Patrick’s Day I would have chosen green!  No, not really.  Green might be a bit much on this one.

Plus, there was a pretty good chance that the red stain on this piece was going to bleed thru my paint, so going with a dark color helps disguise that.

I’ve generally had really good luck with this strategy, but be forewarned that a dark color does not always solve bleed thru problems.  Sometimes you will have to seal a piece to prevent bleed thru from showing and you can use shellac or a clear primer for that.  I like using the Rachel Ashwell clear primer when I need to seal something.

But I did not seal this piece.  I sanded it very lightly, wiped it clean with a damp rag and started painting.  After giving the first coat of paint about 24 hours to dry (because some times bleed thru can take a while to show up), I gave it a close inspection to see if there were any spots of bleeding.  If there had been, I would have then added some clear primer to those spots before adding a second coat of paint.  However, there weren’t, so I added a very light second coat of paint and voila …

I staged it with a lamp wearing my Florence map lamp shade.

I purchased my lamp shade at Junk Bonanza from a vendor called Light Reading (check them out here).  They make gorgeous stuff, and it looks like they will be at the Minnesota Junk Bonanza again this spring.  So if you are in the Twin Cities and could use a cool lamp shade, check them out.

The 2nd drawer down on this buffet is very shallow and has dividers for silverware storage.  It came with some pretty grungy felt lining.  I replaced the felt with some toile patterned fabric instead.

When my sister popped by to pick me for another afternoon of house hunting last weekend, she really loved this buffet.  But she has to wait until she has a house before she’ll know whether or not she needs any new furniture.  And actually that may be soon, but I don’t want to jinx it so I won’t say more.

 In the meantime, this buffet is for sale!  Check out my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details.

27 thoughts on “the queenstown gray buffet.”

  1. The gray makes the buffet so stately and calm. Like, respectable, man. Perfect color. And the lampshade is so fun. I totally can see why your sister would want the buffet and I hope she gets her house! Also loved the small table in the charcoal you painted recently.

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  7. Screeeeeeech. I love your stuff. Love. Love. Love. However, when I saw the lampshade, I had to STOP and quick tap on the “Light Reading” here link-[“look, a squirrel!”]. After reading their site, following, and messaging the owner about the Great Lakes lampshade, I came back and read the rest of your post. I am enamored by the final outcome of the buffet and think I may have concluded my search for the perfect color for a buffet and ornate table that a friend found ON THE CURB and contacted the owner to not only SAVE for me, but drag up to the house so no one else would purloin it. Yowza. Two lucky things so far today. The third can only be tripping over a pot of gold on my way to the van and breaking a hip. The luck of the Irish, forward 2 steps and back 1. Thanks Lassie.

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    1. I had to chuckle out loud reading your comment LaVerne. Thanks for the laugh! I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you trip over that pot of gold 😉

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  9. Look at you and your fancy new wallpaper! Love it and love this piece. This color is definitely a winner. Happy St Pats.

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  10. You chose the perfect color for this little charmer! I also fell into the trap of checking out the Light Reading link while reading! Always love their booth at Junk Bonanza. I really want to comment on your talent for staging your lovely creations. While I have learned much about painting from your classes and posts, I also take pleasure in observing the simplicity, balance, and interesting items you use in your staging. You manage to create a natural-looking vignette that enhances your furniture without overshadowing it in any way. Just another of your many talents!

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  12. Great transformation but I have a question. You say that you changed the felt lining in the drawer for fabric. They are usually glued on to the wood and I was curious if this was the case with yours and if so how did you remove it? I have one and haven’t tackled it yet so any advice would be welcome.
    Thanks

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    1. The felt was not glued to the drawer bottom in this case, but instead was glued to an insert made out of a thin piece of heavy cardboard. I pulled out the dividers and the felt covered board came right out. I used spray adhesive to glue the fresh fabric right over the felt and then just put the insert back in. However, I have used the same idea on pieces where the felt is glued in. I just vacuum as much dust out of the felt as possible and then use spray adhesive to glue my fabric over it. I have also removed felt if it’s loose enough, but if it’s really glued down well that can be difficult and messy.

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