Furniture Goes to the Navy!

China Cabinet Before

China Cabinet After

I'm always up to a challenge, and this job was no different. I received a
call from a client who had an antique China cabinet and matching buffet she wanted painted a dark navy blue. When I arrived at her house, she showed me the two pieces, which were lovely, but worn out and tired looking. A new coat of paint was just what the doctor ordered!

She told me she wanted a very dark, almost black navy, so I gave her the Sherwin-Williams color palette so she could choose the color. She selected #6244, Naval. It was the deepest navy blue they offered. I told her I agreed it was the right color. She preferred a "high gloss" finish, which I also thought would be a perfect choice that would complement the original brass hardware.

The process was a long, tedious one which involved a lot of preparation. We removed all the hardware, which would have to be polished. All drawers had to be removed since they'd be painted separately. There was a broken center bottom molding on the buffet, which had to be repaired and reinstalled. Other than minor repairs, the furniture was in great shape.



Buffet Before

Buffer After

The next step was sanding all the surfaces smooth. Jim took care of this while I painstakingly removed the molding, glass and filigree wood inside of the China cabinet's doors. The glass was held in place with 1/4" trim molding and attached with 5/8" nails. Luckily there weren't a lot of nails, but the ones I removed were difficult, as I didn't want to damage the molding. I carefully slid a thin metal putty knife between the interior of the door and the molding and gently pried the molding forward, revealing each nail. When I was certain I could grab the nail, I used my vice grips and tugged, until all nails were out, then carefully peeled the molding away from the edge. This took over an hour for just two doors. After I had removed the molding, I then marked each edge so that reassembly would be easy. (When working on this type of job, it's important to think ahead!)

Jim's job consisted of painting the large pieces and mine was painting the glass molding and filigree. Would you believe that it took me as long to paint my tiny detail wood as it did Jim to paint the entire buffet and China cabinet? The reason was that I had to paint the filigree three times since I couldn't apply much pressure to the 1/16" design. This was very tedious and time-consuming. The paint was great to work with, giving great coverage, but required three coats over that very thin wood. It took time because I could only work on one side per day as I had to let the paint completely dry before I could do the opposite side.

The buffet was larger, heavier and easier to work on than the China cabinet, because it didn't have quite the detail that the China cabinet did. It was just, well, heavy. My customer didn't want the inside of the buffet painted, so it had to be masked off. Everything had to be sanded, primed and painted. The paint was a dream to work with, so I highly recommend Sherwin-Williams paint. I love it.

I polished the brass hardware until it sparkled against the dark, glossy finish of the freshly painted furniture. Like an officer in the navy, this furniture commands respect and stands at attention, ready to serve the needs of the homeowners. These once tired, lovely but worn pieces of furniture have a new identity and will grace the home of my customer for many years to come. Go Blue!