I’m excited to share this General Finishes Driftwood Buffet Restyle with you today!
I’ve been wanting to paint a piece of furniture in a beautiful grey for a while now. I guess I’ve been putting it off because I hadn’t found the ‘right’ color. When I opened the can of Driftwood, I knew exactly which piece this beautiful grey was going to transform!
The details on this large buffet are amazing. The rounded carved feet and sheer size of this piece makes a real statement even in it’s before state.
Have you ever seen such a long bottom drawer? This is the longest drawer I’ve ever worked with measuring just shy of 5 feet across!
The top of this buffet had seen better days so it was sanded down to bare wood. Once the raw wood was exposed, I debated staining the top but opted to use the same finish as the body.
Tip~ If you’re working on a large piece and want to give the ‘illusion’ of a smaller scale, keeping a cohesive finish on your painted furniture will do the trick.
To show off the vintage details, I antiqued by applying a dark wax over the Driftwood Milk Paint. I made a custom DIY Dark Wax using General Finishes Lamp Black. These two colors pair beautifully (even if you mix in some Lamp Black to create a darker Driftwood!) and gives the finish depth and a gorgeous soft sheen.
The original royal blue silverware drawer insert adds to the vintage feel of this piece too!
I loved the contrasting knobs on my last Coastal Blue Dresser so I added these white rose knobs to play off the deep grey. The stark white roses are the icing on the cake for this piece!
Once again, a big thanks to General Finishes for the Blogger of the Month Feature and providing their amazing products to transform these pieces!
If you’re interested in entering/submitting to The General Finishes 2016 Design Challenge you can see more details here!
And because I won’t be back until next week, to all my Canadian friends – Happy Canada Day!!! We are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful country with such beautiful people! To all my friends south of the border, have a safe and amazing July 4th! To the rest of my friends around the globe, have a spectacular weekend whatever you do! 🙂
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this buffet restyle and the Driftwood color! Chime in – let’s chat! 😉
Have a great day and happy painting friends!
Denise x
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Hello Denise,
Wondering how you got that beautiful result: you painted the whole piece with Driftwood Milk Paint and then applied your custom black wax on edges? Did you sand it to distress?
Thanks!
I absolutely love this! Definitely want to copy for a dresser!
I’m more familiar with glazing then waxing.. do you feel the finish wound be the same?
Thanks!!
Hi Sara…and thank you! I would say a dark wax gives a softer look than a dark glaze. But having said that, I love glazed finishes and I think it would look amazing. 🙂
I found your blog the other day when I googled how to put legs on furniture. I am going this weekend to buy T-nuts. I just saw this buffet. I love the color. I am knew to this kind of painting. Where do I purchase it from? Do I have to mix? Love it and the pink piece you did.
Hi Drema! Thanks for the kind words. This milk paint isn’t a ‘real’ milk paint so NO mixing is required. Just open the can and start painting. You can locate retailers in your area here or buy it on Amazon here (affiliate link). Hope this helps. 🙂
Thanks, blessings. I hope my piece turns out as great.
love this piece!! Can you tell me if you spray or hand paint your milk paint? It is gorgeous!
Thanks so much Chris! This was hand painted but I have sprayed with General Finishes Milk Paint and it sprays beautifully. GF products are technically not a traditional milk paint though. I’ve never tried spraying ‘real’ milk paint (like MMS or Homestead etc) but i have heard it works nicely too. 🙂
i have this exact same buffet, i chose to do mine in a pale green and dark walnut stained top, beautiful isn’t it….do you know what period this is from?
Does yours have the 5′ drawer too Heather!? The pale green and dark top sounds beautiful! I’m guessing this piece is 1920’s-30’s. It has original wood castor wheels (which you can’t even find after 1940) and wood carved knobs (that I’m keeping for a future project cuz they’re so darn charming!).
THIS IS IT!! I absolutely love what you have done here. I’ve been looking and looking for what to do with this dining room set. It has such sentimental value to me…I am the third generation to use this set. but I haven’t been liking the look of it very much! Now you have completely inspired me and I’m so excited. Thank you for sharing your creativity.
http://www.pinterest.com/sheribraun/1920s-dining-room-set-refinish/
Hi Sheri… I’m feeling excited for you! Your Great Grandmother’s buffet, hutch and dining table will look amazing in Driftwood! Thanks for sharing your upcoming heirloom project. 🙂
I love the end result! I have an old dresser in my bedroom that i want to paint in grey. Your piece is exactly the look I was looking for. Thanks for sharing !
I love it!!!! You did a wonderful job and make me want to get another project underway using this same color.
Selena
It is so beautiful – you did a fantastic job! I love the color and the contrast with the knobs.
Best,
Kelly
You have done it once again!!! I REALLY like this piece! As always your vision has transformed a sad, tired piece into something fantastic. Of course, we have to give kudos to General Finishes for their beautiful products. They are not available locally so I must order them online, but it’s worth it to have such nice results! You have done a GREAT job, Denise!!!
Perfectly gorgeous! Beautiful work that doesn’t disappoint. Love your styling as well.
Thank you for your posts which always inspire me. Yours is my favorite blog!
Beautifully finished, Denise. Happy Canada Day to you too!
Absolutely gorgeous another winner I’m still thinking over my headboard and footboard I really think I want to white wash it over a seafoam color wish I could consult you in person lol but Illinois is a long way from Canada so I guess I’ll just be happy to read you posts have a great holiday and keep creating
Beautiful!! I love the styling of this piece and the colour is perfect 🙂 I still haven’t tried the General Finish Milk Paint but will be soon now that I’ve seen two pieces by you using this paint. All the best and Happy Canada Day to you too!
Just. Yaaaasssss
General finishes should hire you as an ambassador.
Gorgeous, love, perfect color & method fit for this piece. And for bonus points… lol this is the basic color & look I’d decided on for my large old credenza except I’m leaving the top stained wood, so now I can see how it’ll look. .haha thanks ! Seriously tho. Gorgeous !!!
I’m a tiny bit on the fence about the hardware but prolly because I’m thinking of my piece which has intact original patina hardware which I adore.
We all know I’m a sucker for original hardware when in its good shape! The original wood floral knobs on this piece were SUPER cute but didn’t really match without painting or styling them differently. I was too lazy…lol… so I’ll use them for a future project. Can’t wait to see your old credenza once it’s finished Chez! Have an amazing long weekend. 🙂
That’s it, Denise, I’m stealing your knob & pull collection!! Just kidding, lol. This one turned out so beautifully! Such a rich, elegant colour, and from something called “driftwood” no less. You always know just what to do to make these pieces shine! I especially love the navy drawer liners, that’s an unexpected touch (to me! I’m always expecting something modern inside the drawers).
Wow, though, I can’t imagine how big this piece is. It seems so tiny in the pictures. That bottom drawer being less than a foot long as the average woman… 😮
lol… it does look smaller than it actually is in these pics. And I’m glad you like the drawer liners – they’re the ORIGINAL FELT! They are such a gorgeous royal blue, I just couldn’t pull them! If you lived closer Zovesta – we could share my knob & pull collection. 😉 🙂
Lucky find on those liners!! As dirty as they tended to get, those rich felt liners really were so elegant, even in tacky ’70s stuff. 😀