If you’re a fan of rustic charm and vintage pieces, this is definitely a piece you’ll want to add to your home. This antiqued blue farmhouse buffet painted with chalk paint and an antiquing glaze is the makeover your space needs.

This buffet is a perfect example of the magic of chalk painting – it transforms even the most ordinary furniture into a unique statement piece. Get your own buffet ready for a charming update!

antique buffet with 2 cabinets and 2 drawers before makeover

We snatched up this buffet a few weeks ago, in perfect time for our client to contact us and fall in love with it.

She was looking for a buffet for her dining room and wanted this specific antiqued blue finish with a dark walnut top. We get so many inquiries about this exact finish and we were happy to meet her request!

Buffet pieces not only look great but also serve a purpose. They are versatile and can be used in various rooms for storing or displaying items.

So if you have a buffet in your home, follow our lead and give it some love with this project!

Table of Contents

Supplies Used For Antiqued Blue Farmhouse Buffet Makeover

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Prepping Furniture for Paint

We started out by prepping the buffet for a new finish.

We stripped the top with Citristrip, using this tried and true method removed the hardware and finished up with our go-to prep process. Here’s more about how to prepare furniture for painting.

Then we taped off the top with good ole painter’s tape and plastic, making sure the top was completely covered and protected from overspray. Learn more about how to prevent overspray here!

Priming Buffet to Prevent Bleedthrough

Since this buffet is mahogany, we covered all of our bases by spraying on a few coats of shellac. This just prevents any bleed-through that may come through the blue finish.

Learn more about bleed-through and how to prevent it from ruining your paint job here!

We forgot to shellac one small part of the buffet, and after painting on a few coats of paint, we could see some discoloring in that area.

Shellac provides insurance so we don’t have to start over when the bleed-through happens. Luckily it was a small area, and it was easy to shellac that area and then move forward with more paint.

The worst bleed-through happens with lighter colors, but even this deep blue had a difficult time covering the wood tannin. Read this post to learn more about the best primers to stop tannin bleed.

Painting Furniture with Chalk paint

For the blue base, we sprayed on a few coats of our homemade chalk paint with Inked by Behr Paint with our handy dandy Wagner paint sprayer.

We love love love this thing! It makes our job so much easier and faster AND (the best part) provides a smooth brush-free finish on all our pieces!

We wrote up a 3 part blog series about how to use this paint sprayer starting with how to thin paint for a Wagner Sprayer.

Topcoating Chalk Painted Buffet

Once all the paint was dry, we sprayed on two coats of poly. Learn ALL of my tips and tricks on how to spray polyurethane here!

This round of poly seals the chalk paint so the glaze in the next step is easier to work with. Learn all about the best topcoats for painting furniture here!

Glazing over Chalk Paint

Without a layer of poly, the glaze will just soak into the porous chalk paint and dry way too fast. Need to SEE how to glaze? Check out this video on how I glaze over chalk paint.

To give the blue finish an antiqued look, we mixed our clear glaze with black latex paint and brushed it on with a cheap paintbrush from the dollar store.

We made sure to work it into all of the details and work in small areas so it wouldn’t dry too much before we wiped it off. We have found baby wipes to be the perfect tool to wipe off the excess glaze.

After the glaze was completely dry, we sprayed on three more coats of poly to seal in the glaze as well as provide a long-lasting durability to the finish.

Check out my comparison between glaze vs wax over chalk paint to learn more.

Finally, we were able to take the tape and paper off the top of the buffet!

Staining A Wood Top

We brushed on dark walnut wood stain by Minwax to the fresh raw wood, wiped off the excess stain with old cut-up t-shirts, and let it completely dry.

Read this post to learn more about how to stain wood darker.

the stained wood top of the painted buffet

To seal the stained top, we love using Minwax’s oil-based wipe on poly. The oil-based poly brings out all the beautiful colors of the wood grain, compared to the water-based poly we use over paint.

Cleaning Old Furniture Hardware

To finish off the piece, we cleaned up the original hardware with Krud Kutter, then sprayed it with Rustoleum’s oil rubbed bronze spray paint and sealed it with more poly.

Check out this post to learn more about how to clean old furniture hardware.

I think it’s safe to say that this finish is one of my very favorite finishes! The mix of blue, antiquing, and a stained top comes together to make one stunning finish.

Check out more dark blue painted furniture ideas for your next projects here.

closeup of the blue antiqued buffet with a cabinet door open

full shot of the blue antique painted buffet with farmhouse decorations

More Before And After Makeovers

Click any of these “before” photos below to view the “after” of that makeover.

Why do people antique furniture?

People often antique furniture to add character, charm, and a vintage look to their pieces. It can also be a way to cover up imperfections or wear and tear on old furniture.

Antiquing can create a unique and one-of-a-kind piece that stands out in a room and adds an interesting focal point.

Another reason people antique furniture is to create a specific aesthetic, such as shabby chic or farmhouse style.

By distressing the finish or adding an antiqued glaze, they can get an aged and weathered look that fits their desired theme.

Minwax Dark Walnut Stain

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Minwax Oil Based Wipe on Poly

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Rustoleum’s Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint

What are the ways for antiquing furniture?

There are a few different methods for antiquing furniture, depending on the look you want to create.

One popular technique is of course, using a glaze over a painted surface. This adds depth and an aged appearance to the piece.

Another way is to use distressing techniques, such as sanding or scuffing the edges and corners of the furniture.

This gives the piece a worn and weathered look, adding character and charm. You can learn the best distressing techniques in our post.

Some people also use wax or dark furniture polish to create an antiqued look, especially on wood pieces. This adds a subtle, aged sheen to the surface and enhances the natural grain of the wood.

Our post on how to use Waverly Antique Wax shows antiquing using wax in detail.

Check out this antique painted furniture post for more inspiration on creating an aged look on your furniture.