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Sunday, January 3, 2010

It All Started With The Knobs....

My $25 Craigslist buffet was once a reddish/brown hue that didn't at all match my dining room.







But now, it is SEVERAL colors:

Let's back up, shall we? Here was everything I needed for this project, and believe it or not, I owned all these things so I didn't have to get any more supplies. (Oops, I just realized, my electric sander and frog tape are not pictured.)
I did my usual routine..... sand, prime, paint:
Note: I started out using a Valspar white spray paint, but found it to look way too off-white, so I ended up using regular Olympic house paint in super bright white. This ended up working out just fine.


I was not planning to go wild with this piece. I was going to keep it all white, but then I thought I wanted to introduce a little fun with the knobs. That's when things started to take off on their own. I spray-painted the knobs black, then I saw that I had round sponges of three different sizes, I decided to do three different colored circles on the face of the knob.



And that is when I busted out my frog tape, and just started taping and painting whatever came to mind. I had no plan, and no idea if it would turn out looking awful.



And here is my 2 cents about frog tape, which I originally heard about from Miss Mustard Seed. Unlike crappy blue regular painters tape, which generally works best if you peel it off before the paint dries.... frog tape does best when the paint has dried. The paint doesn't bleed as noticeably and it leaves pretty crisp edges. It's not perfect,but it's FAR better than any tape I've ever used. Even though it's expensive, I'd recommend it for projects like these. And here is a simple before/after of my dining room with the new buffet. It doesn't make a big drastic different in the overall picture, in my opinion....
...but I still do like it. :)


Here is the thing though... my husband says it doesn't match. And the fact that it is black and white contrasts with the brown dining set. Looking at the overall dining room picture, I can kinda see what he's saying... so what do you think? Does it now look out of place with the rest of the furniture in that room?


Or ignore him?

I'm linkin up:

DIY Day @ ASPTL

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55 comments:

  1. I think the buffet looks awesome. We have lots of brown at our house and I mix it up with black. They're both neutrals, right?

    Mrs. Petrie @ casapetrie.com/blog/

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  2. Time to paint the china cabinet ;)

    I think its looks AWESOME! I clicked over from Kimba's and this is the best project I saw so far. I love your colors and how playful the piece is. Plus $25 is such a steal ;)

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  3. Looks very sassy and MOD - appears to fit right in! Nicely done!

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  4. All the design experts say that nothing should match anymore, so I wouldn't worry about it. Besides, I can't even believe it's the same piece of furniture as the one in the Before picture! It's an amazing transformation. GREAT JOB!

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  5. I agree with Anny. I think the buffet looks freaking awesome. If you paint the cabinet, it will stand out and anchor the room. Didn't you say you wanted to put a rug down too? I think that will make a huge impact.

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  6. That looks totally awesome. It turned out fabulous and fits perfectly into your dining room now. Love it.

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  7. Sarah, you rock. :) I think it looks great, and the only reason it doesn't drastically change the overall picture is because you can barely see it peeking out behind the table in the overall picture. Are you going to do the cabinet?

    And as far as the black... Black is a neutral. And the cabinet is below a giant black/gray painting. So unless you're going to rid the room of any black/gray, he's nuts.

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  8. Love it! It looks great in that room and it looks like it was expensive. =-)

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  9. I think it looks great with the rest of your dining room!

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  10. Oh wow! Looks great!

    I agree with PP, not everything has to match.

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  11. Oh my gosh, it looks Fabulous! Great job!
    -Jill

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  12. It fits perfectly in your room now! I'm hosting a Power of Paint Party starting late tonight & every Wednesdays... I'd love it if you'd link up this buffet.

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  13. What a great buffet! I love its lines... and while it doesn't match the other pieces, I think it's perfect. When everything is all matchy-matchy it can be boring. This piece mixes it up-- love it!

    Thanks for stopping by my bathroom redo and for your sweet comment!

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  14. Your taste is so different then mine. . I love it! I love that you are not afraid to go for bold and bright. Keep it up!

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  15. You did a fabulous job - what a great find! I love the lines of the piece. I think it looks good in the room - I think if anything pull some of the colors into a centerpiece for the table or a fabric runner and it will be perfect =)

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  16. Wow! Love it! I think it compliments your dining room. I prefer complimentary pieces, rather than matchy-matchy things.

    I do agree with Stephanie - a table runner or centerpiece in the buffet colours will be terrific!

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  17. AMAZING. You amaze me. That's all!

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  18. Sarah - you AMAZE me...I'm seriously in awe right now. I want to completely redo my bedroom and you're giving me serious inspiration. I'm working on saving up images for a massive redecorating blogpost in the near future...and of course I'm dying for your input

    Are you thinking of painting the china cabinet? Like someone else said, if you add an area rug, I think everything will tie in perfectly. And who said Kevin gets an opinion anyway :)

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  21. How hip this is, I love it. You did a great job and thanks for sharing.

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  22. I think it looks great in your dining room! I actually like how the white pops against the blue wall-so much more so than the old color did. I'm curious-how much time would you say you put into this project? This stuff is so foreign to me and I'm wondering if it takes two hours, five hours, etc? And whatever you do it in, double it for me:)

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  23. It looks fantastic! I LOVE that it doesn't match the other pieces! It's perfect.

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  24. Thanks everyone! This makes me feel better, I just don't think I could bring myself to paint the hutch, I love it as is.

    And Mary, it'd be hard to really figure out how much time I'd spent on this project. At least 7 or 8 hours I'd say? It's difficult to tell because so much of it is painting on one coat of something, letting it dry, and coming back to repeat. Here is everything that I needed to let dry:
    - primer
    - at least 2 coats of the actual white, even 3 in some areas
    - the colored squares i used with my frog tape
    - 2 coats of polycrylic.
    so in essence, it took me all week because of drying time.
    you must have patience to do something like this, i have learned the hard way :) otherwise, it will turn out looking like crap!

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  25. Wow - I'm so impressed! It looks great!

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  27. Sarah,
    Your buffet looks beautiful. You asked me on my blog about using Valspar paint. I noticed in your picture that you have a big can of it. I do not use the regular Valspar paint. I use the little quart of it over near the spray paint. It's very thick and durable. I have always used black or white for my projects because of the way I decorate. I don't know if you can have those little cans tinted another color...I'll have to check into it.
    Thanks for visiting my blog,
    Traci

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  28. To me, not that I'm any expert, but it looks like the buffet is part of the art of that wall, and not so much a piece of furniture on the room. Does that make sense? So in that sense, i think it works beautifully in your dining room.
    I am SO doing this! I have a VERY old dresser that needs shaping up. This was a very inspiring post!

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  29. You know what else I think? (and this is just after another glance at the before and after phtos of the entire room) Maybe you could incorporate those colors into your dining room set. Your dining room is very bright and sassy (love it!) and your dining set is just a little... blah? Maybe you could do something with the chair backs or the seat of the chairs to incorporate the colors, and rather than redo the table itself, add a runner or center piece that pulls the colors of the room onto the dining table. The dining set is what looks out of place now..

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  30. What a great find! I like the paint job and wouldn't change it at all. Matchy Matchy is SO out! ;)

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  31. I love the colors you used and the way you painted the squares and stripe. Great Job!
    very pretty!

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  32. I think it looks awesome!!! great job girl!

    and as for whether it matches, I don't think it's too bad....but maybe you're on your way to painting that table and hutch too!! :)

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  33. Wow, I think it's gorgeous. I love, love, LOVE it!

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  34. Love it! What a cute project. I just recently discovered frog tape. It rocks. I love the way you did the knobs. So cute!

    XOXO
    Jen

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  35. Looks fantastic! Love how you painted it.

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  36. I love it! You are so brave!! I love the blue. What is the name of that color?
    thanks for sharing!!

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  37. Well, this is so cute! You did a great job. And being that I am a designer, you can tell your husband that matchy matchy looks like a catalog room, and not a well designed room. You did awesome with your color choices!

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  38. I LOVE it! and I love that it doesn't match - just add a great runner and center piece on the table to tie it in!!

    GREAT job!!
    ~TidyMom

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  41. I agree with Emily. Put a fun table cloth on. Make chair covers or chair cushions. Add some pottery to the hutch that has similar colors. I think the furniture is fine together, it just needs to be tied into your color scheme to make your new, fabulous piece look more purposeful with the rest of the room.

    Love your color scheme and the job you did is crazy awesome!!! I agree with someone else who said it looks like artwork!

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  42. It's beautiful Sarah! I agree with Stephanie about doing a runner or something of that sort in a coordinating color on the dinning room table.

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  43. Totally cool! Tell your husband (sweetly) to leave the decorating up to you ;)
    Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  44. Ignore your husband, it looks awesome. I consider wood a neutral and you can use any color with it... including black. I love love love the painting above it too!

    Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  45. did you make that canvas artwork? BECAUSE I LOVE IT!! nice work on the buffet too....i always admire people bold enough to paint in bright colors & still LOVE it at the end :)

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  46. Very cool! I remember you asking about this piece and I am so glad you didn't go with just plain white. All of the details you added make this piece interesting and unique. Love it!

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  47. I like the black top and the black stripe, and the black squares, but I think you should lose the blue and silver squares. The knobs would be best in one color - either all black or all white, but not in blue or silver. I think the wall is blue enough that you don't need it on the buffet and the silver is kind of random.

    And it does look a bit out of place in the room as a whole. Just the single shot of that corner gives it the appearance of a specific color vignette, but looking at it in the room as a whole, I can see what your husband is talking about.

    Maybe the china hutch needs a revamp, then!! When in doubt, paint it out! (So says Eddie Ross.)

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  48. That's fantastic! I've never tried the Frog Tape before, but I'm definitely going to keep it in mind for my next tape-centric project. I wouldn't worry too much about the "matchy" issue.

    Thanks for dropping in at my place, commenting on my couch re-do and complimenting my kitteh. :)

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  49. Love it! I think every room needs a statement piece and this is yours!

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  50. Wow! This looks FABULOUS! I really, really love all the details you put into it! It looks great with your wall color and I wouldn't change a thing! : )

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  51. I like it! And I REALLY like that painting over it - did I miss a post about that?

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  52. I'm in LOVE with your dining room!! GORGEOUSNESS!! LOVE the colors!

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  53. The buffet looks incredible! You're so creative!!!

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  54. It might be time to pain the dinning room table and chairs. The buffet is AMAZING!

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