Antique Buffet Pretty Once More

Buffet Before Refinish

Buffet After Refinish

A friend of the family had this lovely red oak buffet in her family for generations and spent the summer sanding it down to bare wood, but when it got down to the nitty gritty, she threw up her hands and asked me if I would finish it for her by stripping the details around the medallion and all the tiny areas she was unable to reach with her sander. I told her I'd be happy to do this and once she delivered it, I got right to it. After doing the detailing in the fluted sides and inner corner edges, I gave it a final sanding and used golden pecan stain for the finish with two coats of polyurethane to protect the wood. I decided to add a third coat of polyurethane on the top only, since that gets the most amount of use. 

Once the staining was complete, I tackled the brass pulls, ten of them. I spent approximately seven hours polishing them until the looked like new. When possible, I like to use original hardware as it fits the period of the furniture item. These were indeed gorgeous and looked like the day they were made when I was done with them. I've done buffets similar to this one, but the character of every piece is unique and it always surprises me when I stand back and look at the "before" and "after" photos and think, "I did that!" It's truly rewarding in a way that only someone who loves old furniture can appreciate.

Pulls and Hinges Before Polishing

Pulls and Hinges After Polishing

Watertown Slide Table Era 1889-1910

Cherry Table Before

Cherry Table After

In this business you never quite know what type of project you will recieve. This was one of those projects which came with a few surprises. What you see in the left photo is a table with a hidden agenda, it extends to about ten feet and can accommodate between 3-4 leaves which makes it a huge table! Unfortunately, my customers had purchased this table without any leaves and decided to use it as is. The slide mechanism was made by the Watertown Slide Company located in Watertown, Wisconsin. Judging by the style and materials used in the table, I estimate it to be made between 1889-1910, but likely is was made in the early 1900's. (This company only made the slide mechanism for the leaves of the table, not the table itself.)