Another BG project!

Once you start you just can't stop- building furniture!

The most recent creation by the Speeds is our buffet table that took the place of an old baker's rack we had in our kitchen/dining area...

We got tons of beautiful silver serving dishes & platters for our wedding and I wanted a place to display them all as well as change up the look of our dining room/kitchen area. We found tons of ideas - Pottery Barn inspired, DIY, etc. The one we chose to go with is one we found on http://www.lizmarieblog.com/2014/03/diy-dining-room-buffet/. 

 

 

 

 

We had SO much fun building this together and are so happy with the way it turned out!

 

A detailed guide of how to build it can be found HERE :) . We made some minor adjustments to the measurement/ construction of ours so I've listed out the materials and the directions we followed from the site as well as some "along the way" pictures to reference

 

Materials needed (We used a medium grade wood from Home Depot- Sturdy,good quality, but inexpensive:

7 – 2″x8″
3 – 2″x4″
7 – 2″x2″
1 – 1″x4″
Wood Filler
Wood Screws

 

Tools needed:

Drill
Countersink Drill Bit
Drill Bit
KregJig
Miter Saw
Sander
Level

 

 

 

The Dimensions:

Legs : (HT) 32″ | (WT) 17 1/2 ”Base (Legs and Support): (Length) 91 3/4″ | (Width) 17 1/2″
Shelves : Both are (2) 2×8 side by side, 88 3/4″
Top : (3) 2×8 side by side, 96″ (We wanted an overhang so this was adjusted)
Total Height: 33 1/2″ (We actually made ours a little taller to fill the space we were wanting it for)

 

 

Now on to building:

 

Garrett cut the boards he needed to size then began constructing the table

 

Legs first! Attach the front legs to the back legs by attaching a connecting 2×4 at the top. It makes an upside “U” shape. Repeat this step for the other side. Check for level.

 

Now, Start the framework by building it in to the legs. Attach the two leg bases with a support 2×2

 

At this point, you should have a framed box with legs. Check for level. **It looks best if you can attach all of the support 2×2 with pocket holes from KregJig

 

 

 

You will be repeating the same step to construct the frame for your two shelves.

 

 

Now- Lay in the shelves **Unless you have a large work bench you will need help going forward. Your shelf boards must be secured between the legs in order for you to drill straight and level**

 

Start with the bottom. Lay in the two side by side 2×8 shelf boards, check for level and attach them by screwing them into the support 2×2, front, back, and side. Repeat the same steps for the middle shelf.

 

 

We ran in to some issues with uneven boards so instead of using a KregJig throughout the entire project- we had to make some screw holes in visible site- however, we covered them up with wood filler later and painted over them.

 

 

 

 

Now to top it off! Be sure to place your top on the frame and measure the hangover- if you allowed for any. We were covering a large space in our kitchen so we overshot on the original dimensions and made it a little wider, and taller. To keep the boards even & flush for the top piece we drilled (3) 1×4 boards underneath- this was to ensure the top slotted boards stayed smooth... To attach the top we rolled the frame over and drilled up from the bottom- concealing our screws

 

 

Voila! Our buffet table is built! Now on to painting :)

 

 

 

 We filled all of the countersunk holes and visible screws with paintable wood filler. After the filler has dried and hardened, sand it as desired, and prepare for paint. We chose to paint ours with CeCe Caldwell's Chalk Paint in Simply White finished with CeCe Caldwell's Dark Aging Cream. We sanded the top for a smooth surface, and sanded a few "rough" edges, but very little maintenance was required prior to painting- that's the best part about chalk paint!

 

 

 

Once the paint dried (we let it dry overnight) I finished it with MinWax and Ce Ce Caldwell's Dark Aging Cream. This gave it an antiqued look. I wanted it to be very simply and go along with the other pieces in our house so I didn't antique it too much- just enough to keep it from being too white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using this Aging Cream was so simple- you can use a little or use a lot. The wax makes it easy to take away when you have used too much. I used a cheap paint brush and a rag for antiquing. I used the rag to rub on the Minwax then used my brush to add the Aging Cream. I went back and forth between my rag and brush to rub it in to the wood to achieve the look I wanted.  

 

I let the wax/cream sit for a couple of hours then took a clean rag and rubbed it down to make sure it was all "soaked" in before moving it inside.

 

WARNING: This thing was heavy! I'm pretty sure it took Garrett and I twenty minutes to move it less than 10 feet- from our garage, to our kitchen

 Garrett's grandmother found us an old window (also super heavy) that I have been dying to use since our wedding so of course I incorportated in to our new space. Isn't this window awesome! I have another one and we are already working on using it for our next project!

A few decorations later and our little project is complete :)

I had this whole image in my mind of what I wanted this area to look like once we got it all finished and it has turned out better than expected.

 

Now what are we going to build next.................