How To Make A PLANKED TOP For Furniture | Replace Outdated Top With Planked Pine | Buffet Makeover

going somewhere yeah I headed to the theater oh I like those thanks well you know what they say it's the shoes that

make

the outfit really that's what they say nothing darling just wondering When was your last stint at the salon, the hood of the but you need to get your hair done yeah, I know, I just haven't had the time. I think the most important thing a woman can have after talent, of course, is her hairdresser. Seriously, you're quoting John Crawford. I liked it, honey, so sweet. You realize that whatever my hair looks like, oh honey, I know you're a busy modern woman, it's just that it's not always about the cushioning base, sometimes we have to attend to the highs, it's not the problem, yes, I will do it right.

For you honey, hello everyone, I'm Andy, welcome to Furniture Fables. It's undeniable that a truly impactful way to update any piece of

furniture

is to add feet where there were none before, but when I met this '70s baby, I immediately became concerned about the top of it. And while a new stone top would have been, of course, amazing, she knew that if she wanted to have any kind of budget in mind, she would have to muster up all the carpentry skills she could. I bought this 1970s

buffet

sideboard just a couple miles from home. From a nice family who was busy with a tidying project, the father explained to me that he had to be careful because the large, loose top was extremely heavy and he wasn't kidding.

I know in these photos this synthetic slate top maybe looks a little greenish, but in person They weren't friends, it was blue and it wasn't an attractive blue at least not to me and with all that dramatic jerky movement it was giving me all kinds of of Flintstones vibes so I stood up and looked and looked at that top trying to think how I could use it in a redesign, but in the end for me there was no question that it had to go and that meant one thing: creating a new lid, the original ornate brass fittings I was getting ready with, so I figured I'd probably keep it. that, but after removing the top and stepping back to look at the piece some more, I also started to think that maybe it could use a new pair of shoes, so I added that to the to-do list and pulled out the three inner ones . drawers and placed them to the side and then removed all that fabulous original brass hardware.

Then I mixed a bucket of warm water and soap. I always use Dawn dish soap and gave the entire piece a good clean inside and out and then rinsed it well. and I dried it, then I removed the four doors making sure to carefully label them and their hardware so they could find their way back to their original places and then I started painting yes, that's right, we already got to this part, just like that quickly. using mineral paint fusion bay berry color and that's right, no sanding or priming, so why not? Well, the original surfaces were that amazing combination of not slippery and in basically perfect condition, they had a strong oak grain, but I actually wanted that oak texture to read through the paint melt has a built-in primer that I knew would be excellent for adhesion, so I knew that as long as I didn't see any bleeding on this first door, I would be in business.

Luckily my hunch paid off, nothing spilled, so I was off to the races applying my first coat over the entire body of the

buffet

. It's pretty rare that I don't sand or prime, but from time to time I will. I came across a project that I think was the right decision and this was one of them. It took me a little longer to paint these doors with all their three-dimensional details and I found that I actually went back and forth between my zebra chiseled wedge brush. and my smaller square brush made it really easy to go in and go around all those details, even after all that there were still a couple of spots missing there, but that's okay, we'll put them on the second layer, so the blueberry is like its name.

It is very similar to the color of a bay leaf that you may have in your spice cabinet. The color will look very different throughout this video depending on the light, but it is a very earthy mid-tone green. Here you can see it when I start the second layer. door what that oak grain looks like after this layer dried. I took some 220 grit sandpaper and lightly sanded any little rough spots I felt on those doors and then wiped them down with a tack cloth before adding a third coat, okay? so now it's finally time to start tackling that top.

I took some measurements of the old slate top that was turned over and then John and I ran to Home Depot for some supplies. We start by tracing the outline of the top of the piece. on a piece of 5 8 inch plywood that we had purchased and then cut it to the right size to fit perfectly on the buffet top, so whenever I need to use the circular saw, I prefer to have John

make

the first cut. so I can remind myself by watching him exactly how to do it. Saws don't usually scare me, but I've used them a lot less than he has, so it's great for me to freshen up a bit before grabbing.

It's out of his hands Saws are fun Saws can be fun I quickly sanded the edges of that plywood and then placed the piece on top of the buffet and then pre-drilled some holes and screwed it on top. My plan was to use this piece of plywood as a base and gave it a plank look with some select quality

pine

boards that we had also purchased before placing the

pine

boards on top, although I decided this was a good point to enhance the interior drawer fronts. I sanded three of them well with 220 grit paper and then highlighted them with some Dixie Belt gel stain in stripped white.

I used the Dixie Bell applicator pad to wipe off the gel tint and then used some lint-free cloths to wipe it off. Well, all this time I had also been thinking about those feet and decided I really wanted to add some, so with John's help I turned the buffet over and we took a look at the construction of the bottom and I realized that I was going to need to basically build up the bottom a little bit so that there is something strong to actually screw on a

furniture

leg if you have a piece like this that you would like to add legs to and it looks like this, here's what you can do: we cut a piece of 2x2 oak because you know it's so strong that it would fit against the existing structure of that bottom and then because it was too short we used some scraps to create some shims and now you can see that oak.

The piece is nice and flush with the bottom edge of the buffet and then I used some good wood glue to attach those shims and the oak piece and then I clamped that oak piece to the side of the buffet and then I went back and pre-drilled some holes in the top and side so we can secure that piece of oak with screws on both the top and the sides so it's really secure. You can see John there making sure the drill bit is the correct length to work. to go through the oak and a little bit of the buffet, okay, once we installed those oak pieces on both sides, it was time to install the foot hardware.

I measured where I wanted the foot to sit and then scraped the surface to mark that spot. and then we used that wood drill to create a hole for the hardware to sit in. You don't need a little more. There it sits nice and flush before you pre-drill anything you want to compare your drill bits to the screws you will use. use so you can join them as closely as possible. Pre-drilling is very important with oak because it is so strong that the screws won't go in on their own and there are beautiful furniture leg brackets there ready for any style of shoe you want.

I'd like to give it a try and of course it turned out I had a few different sets on hand and couldn't resist so I tried them all on now knowing that with that existing apron finding the right foot could be a bit tricky. challenge and obviously the apron could be removed to create a more streamlined look, but my goal here was to create as many options as possible so someone could have furniture legs or could remove the legs and leave the piece on the floor as it originally was If I preferred that look, those long and modern ones look a little silly, that's fine, I leave the final shoe choice for later and go back to the top.

I measured the bottom of my blouse and added an inch for the overhang and then I cut my three pine boards to fit and gave them all to her. After a good sanding I used a little more of that tack glue and installed the first board using a clamp to let it dry for about an hour and then I went back and used my nail gun again here whenever you use your nail gun and want measure. the depth of whatever you're trying to nail, making sure your nails aren't too short or too long. I added the second board, gluing and clamping it to the first so it would sit snugly against it. and then I nailed it to that third board too, I couldn't get the clamp on so I did the best I could and glued it and nailed it too.

Now you might be wondering why I didn't trim that little front angle in the first one. board before installing it honestly, I wasn't sure if maybe a square top would look better on this buffet, but I decided no, it really should be angled to match the entire piece, so I had to measure that little bit there on that corner and use the circular saw to trim it. This is not ideal. I really should have done it the other way around, but it worked. I then re-measured my boards, cut and sanded my 1 by 2 pine molding glue pieces and then nailed them in, you can see that these decorative pieces will cover the edges of the plywood base as well as the pine planks, and thus they will give the upper part a very well finished appearance.

I have to apologize that somehow I didn't get pictures or I lost the pictures of when I created the little angled corner pieces, but once the top was installed, I took out my wood putty and applied it over each nail, as well as over all the cracks in those angled corners and put some on too. between the planks too, the idea here was not to disguise the planks, actually, on the contrary, in my opinion the planks were part of the design, but simply to minimize the gaps once they had dried, I gave everything a final sanding and then I took out the stain, this is my very dented can of Verithane heather smoky dye, this is a really cool smoky brown shade that I thought would go really well with the cranberry green.

I stirred the stain really well and then using an older brush I started applying it, brushing it in the direction of the wood grain in small sections and then wiping it down with the same lint free cloths now because I'm staining pine I knew it would have a lot of contrast and variation, pine, of course, has wood knots. and that will add up to all kinds of variations in terms of how the wood takes the stain, but again I thought that would work really well with the kind of overall modern rustic vibe I was going for while the first coat was drying. feet that I was going to use and stained them to match using that bramble smoke stain again, brushing it and then wiping it with those lint free cloths I decided to just apply one coat on the feet, I actually preferred them to look extra rustic, then I applied a second coat of stain on top of the piece, I brushed it on, let it sit for just a minute and wiped it off and then let it dry for a good three days before adding my top coat.

I used two coats of Verithane polyester top coat flat again I have to apologize I'm missing that footage but if you've seen me add top coat before I know the drill you want, stir that top coat up, lay it down lightly with overlapping strokes and Most importantly, if you are applying a water-based topcoat over an oil-based stain, you should wait at least 72 hours. You may have noticed that I really like to brighten the inside of darker pieces, so to give this buffet a finishing touch I used some. From this white and gold metallic bumblebee paper on the back of the buffet interior using my knife to gently trim it, I added some padding to my new feet and then screwed them on, then it was time to put those newly lit drawers back on. and then I put all the original hardware back in, gently hammering in those original little nails, then I put those doors back in their original places, and then I decided at the last second to add a little more paper to the inside of those doors, okay?

Remember our stone age storage from the 70s with that top that could flatten some of her toes while she sat on the floor and here she is now? Sometimes a new haircut and new shoes can do wonders along with the perfect green dress with that heavy stone top. disappeared and everything in that bayberry color now we can somehow see the detailsarchitectural details of those doors more clearly, while the aged patina of the original brass hardware warms the piece with its vintage low-gloss shine, the interior has been refreshed with brighter drawer fronts and some simple but Beautiful and removable, her new stylish shoes lift her off the floor, giving the piece a brighter and airier visual appeal, while balancing all the existing three-dimensional design elements, a new modern rustic elegance that she's truly upgraded from.

From head to toe, this credenza slash buffet was a great learning piece for me. I've made a plankton top in the past, but this was the first time I'd made a larger piece like this now, obviously, with all that wood and the new feet. A project like this is not going to get any cheaper and I think my total supply cost was about 120. I listed and sold the piece for 385. And at that price, it was quick with several bids that netted me a modest profit of $265. Remember that I tend to price things on the lower end when I'm doing a technique that's new to me.

If I were to make a piece like this now I think I would list it somewhere between 450 and 485 and I think it would probably sell just as easily. I hope you enjoyed this head to toe

makeover

and are encouraged to see the potential in your furniture, if so be sure to click the subscribe button before you leave, how different from that old, dated piece of your home, sports a new hairstyle and some new shoes. Thank you very much for joining me, my friends, see you next time. for more furniture fables