Laundry Room Buffet Makeover

Today, I’m excited to share the laundry room buffet makeover we’re using at Loblolly Manor as we celebrate Week 3 of the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda creator of the One Room Challenge. You can catch up on Week 1: The Laundry Room Design Plan here and Week 2: How to Cover an Air Conditioner Return here if you missed it.

No joke, I was seriously getting panicked we were not going to find a reasonable storage option for this project. We’ve traveled to furniture stores, antique malls, estate sales, thrift stores and charity shops in a five-county area and every week we came home empty handed.

Well, last week, we had the opportunity to visit a store we’ve been trying to get into for nearly two years now. It’s about an hour and a half from our homes so it’s definitely a day trip we have to plan. So, we get into this store which is more like a warehouse from a movie set and it was overwhelmingly amazing, you guys! They had some pieces of ironstone I’ve only seen in pictures. In fact, they had just bought an entire Palm Beach estate where one of the chandeliers was over 5-feet wide. From ornate picture frames to gorgeous pieces of furniture to beautiful vintage kilim rugs and everything in between – this place seemed to have it all.

While we were shopping we found the most fabulous buffet. I can’t even tell you how excited we were, honestly, it was a relief to know our search was over. We even measured the car and had an inch and a half to spare. Bonus, the original tag had a price of $275 with a sticker over it for $100. We couldn’t believe our good luck and felt sure the buffet was meant to be ours.

We get up to the cash register to pay for all of our purchases and was told the buffet had been marked incorrectly. We were stunned. In fact, the owner all but accused us of altering the tag which I assure you we did not.

Obviously, after being treated that way we did not come home with the buffet. I can’t even tell you how bummed and totally angry I was at the complete lack of respect and customer service.

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending.

The very next day, I went to see one of our favorite vendor contacts. Not only did she sell us a buffet for $40, a chippy white laundry basket for $8, and three gilded picture frames for $3, she also had someone load everything up for us AND gave us a lead on three nightstands which we desperately need for two of the guest rooms at Loblolly Manor. I’m pretty sure I floated all the way home because she was that good to us. Hello, customers for life.

You’re the best, Arnita, thank you!

The buffet definitely needed a good scrubbing which is not uncommon for the pieces we find.

I knew it could be easily remedied with the help of a shop-vac, a magic eraser, warm soapy water and a bit of elbow grease though.

It also needed a fresh coat of paint. We’ve kept a pretty consistent color palette of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen, Pure White, and Graphite for almost all of the painted projects we’ve completed throughout Loblolly Manor.

So, using two coats of French Linen on the top and

and two coats of Pure White on the bottom of the buffet was all but a given.

We spray painted the hardware with a few coats of Rust oleum in Flat Black.

I sealed the entire buffet with clear furniture paste wax and buffed with a lint free cloth.

I can’t wait to see how this buffet is going to look in the laundry room once the shelves and the corbels are installed above this piece. We’re finally going to be able to put those up now that the buffet is in place! I know we’re a few weeks from being able to do that because we had a bit of a delay with the wood but things are definitely falling into place now.

This week we’ll be working on the folding station which will be fun! The artwork is on the way. The rug, the light and the ceiling medallion have all arrived and will need to be installed soon. We also need to source a few glass jars and baskets as well. We’re still mulling over a few ideas on how to create more storage in the laundry closet. We definitely need to make a decision on that this week too.

That’s all I have for now! I hope you all have a peace filled and happy weekend. We have a great week coming up next week as we continue our work from Loblolly Manor. On Monday, I’ll share how we married the hutch of the desk in my office to the buffet in the dining room at Loblolly to create a stylish display area for ironstone and silver. Tuesday, I’ll share a super simple moss centerpiece. Wednesday, I’ll share the progress we’ve made on the rest of the dining room and maybe the entry if we can get it all finished in time. I’ll be back here on Thursday to share an update on Week 4 of the One Room Challenge and the folding station we chose as well.

Whatever you have planned for the weekend, I hope it’s something you’re really excited about. I can’t wait to see you back here on Monday! Until next time, I’ll see you on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Many blessings,

CoCo