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Built-In Buffet Details

 

HometoCottage.com Built-in Buffet DetailsWe were so fortunate that when we bought our 100 year old home, a couple years ago now, (boy, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long already!) even though prior to our purchasing it, the property had gone through several owners in the past 15 years, and even back to the bank once or twice, but with all that, still, pretty much all of the original trim and details had been maintained very well. (except the kitchen and bathroom which had been ‘updated’ in the 70’s) The built-in in the dining room is original to the house, but needed some detailing, so here is what I did with the built-in buffet details…

Here’s what the dining room looked like when we first bought this house.

HometoCottage.com Before: dining room buffet

The light fixture was from the 70’s or 80’s, the wallpaper wasn’t my taste and I felt a little too ‘formal’ for this handsome room, and years ago some of the original knobs on the built-in buffet had been replaced with a bit ‘fancier’ style.

But for the most part, the room was in wonderful condition. And I mean really, I’d prefer to paint the room with my own color selections and do those little things to it to make it reflect our personal taste anyway.

All of the trim in the room , (the whole house, actually) I painted a soft white color, but decided that the built-in buffet would look nice painted a contrasting color. So coordinating with the rest of the room’s new color palette, I opted for a dark gray color for the buffet.

The ‘not original’ hardware needed a change too… The bottom doors still had their original hardware to give me a clue for picking out the rest. Those original hardware knobs were very plain, simple and utilitarian looking… totally in keeping with the era of the home’s age. So here’s what I found to coordinate with those:

HometoCottage.com buffet new and old hardware

Now the two large center drawers are the bronze bin pulls with a square backplate design, and for the two flanking small drawers on each side are small rectangle single pulls. Amazingly, this new hardware was not expensive, nor was it special order. I found it at Menard’s in stock! and I think it coordinates with  the original knobs so well, one would think they were all original!

Inside the back of the built-in buffet is a recessed panel that looked like it needed a mirror. I’m actually surprised there wasn’t a built in mirror there, but who knows, maybe at one point there was and it got broken or something… My initial plan was to use silver leaf and apply it to the back inside that recessed area, but instead…

HometoCottage.com mirror with lanterns

I happened upon this cute panelled mirror with beveled edges and opted for it and the hanging lanterns flanking it.

Once the buffet was painted the darker color, it felt sort of ‘squatty’ in the room. I’m sure it was because the obvious contrast now from the light walls and the dark built-in, accentuated the size of the buffet in comparison to the wall height.

After messing around with several choices, like adding architectural pieces to the top of it, I opted for the super easy and very traditional display of plates across the top, (well in this case, actually antique soup bowls).

HometoCottage.com plate rail

It did take some careful measuring to get the plate hangers hung on the wall in just the right spot so that the bowls look like they are just resting on the top of the buffet trim piece.

HometoCottage.com plate rail top depth

The top trim piece on the very top of the buffet is actually 2 1/4″ deep, so it’s a great size for these shallow soup bowls to visually ‘rest’ on.

From the floor looking up, at least, they look like they are resting on it.

But…

HometoCottage.com not really resting on it.

up on a ladder you can see that they aren’t quite touching the top piece of trim of the buffet.

HometoCottage.com buffet done

The simple, yet effective changes to the built-in buffet details really do make a world of difference. From the ‘style apropriate’ hardware, the dark gray paint color, the mirror and lanterns in the back wall, and the bowls added along the top trim piece, all make up for built-in buffet details that set this original piece of woodwork apart in the room.

 

Want to read a little more?

Click here to see other posts about the dining room of our 100 year old house.

Click here to get some tips on arranging things like the display on the buffet.

Click here to see all the posts I’ve written so far about the projects renovating our 100 year old house.

Click here to read about the dining room in our former house.

 

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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I’m Liz, the author, and I’m so glad you’re here!

My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Frame and Frills!
Frame and Frills is in Wisconsin. I stock amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies, re-done Furniture and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!
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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I'm Liz, the author, and I'm so glad you're here! My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Frame and Frills!
Frame and Frills is in Wisconsin. I stock amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies, re-done Furniture and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!


Disclosure Policy: According to FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that some of the content of this blog may be a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

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Sharing is great! Please feel free to share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook and Pinterest and Flipboard and Houzz and YouTube the more the merrier! I appreciate you stopping by. But please remember that all photos, images, text and content are owned by SimpleDecoratingTips.com. So anything you share, please be sure it always links back to my original post it came from. Please do not remove watermarks, crop or edit anything without written permission from me first.

Disclosure Policy: According to the FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials and shopping links. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

Disclosure Policy According to Federal Trade Commission guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. My truthful opinion will be what I state, no matter if I'm getting paid or not. Accuracy and truth are the priority for me on this blog's information, no matter if it's about a product or anything else. Not every product or service or store etc. may be mentioned in each and every post as an affiliate. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post.

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