Family Heirloom Buffet Restoration

Buffet Before

Buffet After

This lovely old buffet was handed down to a man who wanted to preserve its history and keep its place in the family. It had been crying out to be refinished, as it had seen a lot of use over the years, showing wear. The top was splotchy, scratched and had remnants of water stains. The sides had water stains as well. The entire piece needed some major TLC and detailing, so we got straight to work.

Each restoration project has similarities but differences too. This one needed to be taken apart first; remove the cabinet doors, take off the hinges, remove the handles and sand all the pieces individually then tackle the body. The top back piece was not in place and had to be reconnected to the buffet. The sides were the only part of this piece that had veneer, which had split on the bottom. Once everything had been stripped and sanded, each piece got stained.

Antique Vanity and Mirror Makeover

Vanity Before

Vanity After

We picked up this vanity at a yard sale in Algonac on one of our numerous camping trips there this summer. It had all the original pieces and hardware. All it needed was some good old-fashioned hard work. Total refinishing. Lots of labor and love. That's truly the only way to give an old beauty such as this another chance at life. My personal pet peeve is restoring spindle legs. They require a LOT of work and time in addition to detailing. This one had four spindle legs in front and four square legs in the back. Needless to say, I spent a great deal of time on the legs. The center drawer had a lovely scroll design, which was likely carved by hand sometime in the 1940s. (It also has a gorgeous mirror, which I'll add to this post one we complete it.) The legs had metal wheels, which proved to be wonderful as I was working on it.