the long awaited buffet

if you've been around here long you've likely noticed that it takes me about a million years to do projects, find pieces for the house or make anything look nice.  lets just say that it's not my forte.  i'm a procrastinator and to make matters worse i'm terribly indecisive.  it's a lethal combination.  oh wait!  and i'm cheap too.  could it get any worse?  basically if i finally muster up the courage / energy / desire to start in on a project i'm  soon after [if not immediately] paralyzed by all the decisions that would have to be made in order to make my idea a reality.  once i finally have all that laid out i still have to see if i'd be willing to pay for it [why isn't everything free?].  what's wrong with me!?

so after two years of looking & scouring craigslist & garage sales, making blog pleas for help & everything short of begging someone to 'donate' a beautiful buffet to a poor soul i got this little guy.  rachel had sent me this listing from c.l.; it was a little grainy / hard to see but definitely worth a go-see-ski.  the seller was asking $50 for it and my searching had shown me that no one asks $50 for buffets.  they are all at least $150, usually much much more.  i liked the size, the casters and the hardware.  things were looking good.

one of our friends was having a big ol' back to school / welcome home cookout so we spent our evening there before our furniture appointment.  after losing all track of time we had to rush to the next town over to meet up with the seller to see the piece.  unfortunately we were running late and then got stuck in double diamond traffic for 30 minutes at 9pm.  [if you live here you know what i mean]  at nine at night!?  insane.  by the time we got to georgetown it was almost ten and dark outside.  the fella had pulled the piece out into the driveway for us to take a look but we really couldn't see much since there was no light on the subject.  i didn't want to pass up the deal so we made the sale!  after seeing it in the light, we found more imperfections than i had hoped but i'm pretty certain that we can spiff her up to shine!

here was my first attempt.  if you'll notice some flaws 'character':

with some lemon oil provided by my sweet neighbor [aka mom]:

it was pretty amazing.  i kept shouting to ben in the other room...it was so amazing!  it was like a miracle potion; a definite winner for anyone who loves instant gratification.  although the top and sides of the sideboard shined up really nicely there are still some issues that are really pestering me:

that top drawer is really my nemesis.  if those chips weren't there i think i would love to keep the natural wood as is.  i love all the little details that you can see in the woodwork.  it's really neat up close.  maybe there is a way to incorporate paint & bare wood.  any thoughts out there on how to make that look good?  if i can't figure that out, we'll likely paint the whole piece.  the dining room table and barren walls are still in need of a lot of love but i think we're off to a good start.  just having the piece in that room makes it feel homier already! [ps - please excuse all the shadows.  i work all day and after 530 there is really no such thing as good natural light in this room].

if we do decide to go the painted up route here are some inspiration pieces.  [i have no idea on the color i'd like or how to clean up the hardware that is already on the piece - i'd love to keep them]  all suggestions are welcome.

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[here] - this space is one of my favorite crafting/offices i've ever seen

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