A friend so kindly thought of me when she decided to part with a 1940's Art Deco Waterfall Buffet Sideboard that had been in her family for over 70 years. If only it could talk, I would imagine it would have so many stories to tell of family gatherings, Sunday suppers, Christmas Dinners, and so many family celebrations. One thing is for certain, knowing my friend, it witnessed a lot of love.

As I went about its makeover we got well acquainted, she and I. Every time I opened one of the drawers I got a waft of apple and spice from candles long since removed. The scent reminded me of Christmas and sent my mind down memory lane as I went about my work. I decided she needed a name and so I called her Old Violet, after the paint color I used on her interior.

1940s Art Deco Waterfall Buffet Sideboard Makeover

This is what Old Violet looked like when I got her. Like any 70-year-old gal, she had a few scars and was showing her age, a testament that she lived life to the fullest.


You can see from the photos below she needed a lot of TLC...

Prepping the sideboard for paint

Dynamic Dyna Patch was my friend during this makeover. It's my go-to filler because it doesn't shrink.

Painting The Sideboard Interior

I called this sideboard Old Violet because of the paint color I used in its interior, it reminds me of denim. Which I think is a fitting color because this gal is a casual simple kinda gal and now her personality radiates that from the inside out.

Painting The Sideboard Exterior

Here is where you'll notice it's looking a little different from the photo at the top of this post. More about that later.

I removed the middle door to have open shelving - why hide your favorite serving platters and bowls.


I was torn between chalk painting the entire exterior Old White or staining the top in dark walnut. Painting the exterior Old White and the doors and top in French Linen won.

Painting the sideboard cast iron hardware

Don't you just love the cast iron fleur-de-lis hardware? The knobs I found last winter at a quaint shop in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario. The pulls I found in the Spring at another quaint shop at Village-At-Pigeon-Lake, Alberta. To unify them I brushed a coat of Old Violet followed by a dry brush of French Linen, so pretty!

Adding a French graphic onto the sideboard top

Though Violet is an English name I decided she was going to have some Parisian flair. I found the perfect French graphic fitting for a dining room sideboard at the Graphics Fairy.

Next, I enlarged the graphic to the size I needed at Block Posters. It printed on four sheets of letter-sized bond paper and I taped the pieces together.

I placed the graphic in the center of the top and held it in place with a strip of painters tape. Using graphite paper placed behind the graphic, I traced the image onto the sideboard.

Using a script liner art brush and thinned old white chalk paint, I went into ""the zone" for a few hours painting over the traced graphic. Some people may find this tedious but I find it quite relaxing.

Lining the sideboard drawers with fabric

The drawers were lined with green felt but I decided Old Violet needed something much prettier. I found fabric at Fabricland (Canadian retailer) that matched perfectly with the Old White and French Linen chalk paint.

Note: When you line furniture with the fabric it is suggested you use Fabric Mod Podge to attach it to the bottom of the drawers.

Too lazy to get out of my paint encrusted yoga pants and head over to Michaels to buy some, I used regular matte Mod Podge that I had on hand. I thinned it a little with water and it worked fine.



The first thing I did was iron the fabric nice and flat. With a foam brush, I applied a thin layer of mod podge to the good side of the fabric. After a couple of hours drying time, the fabric was rigid enough to prevent it from fraying when cut with a rotary cutter to the size of each drawer.

Next, I applied thinned Mod Podge directly to the bottom of the drawers and the back of the fabric, which made it more pliable to move around and adjust.


Old Violet and I spent three weeks together on and off. It's going to be hard to part with her and if I had room in my dining room, she'd be staying with us. She needs to find the perfect home to share new memories over the next 70 years.


I'm not parting with her just yet because she has a matching table and chairs that are next on the workbench queue.


But before I get to that, how many lumps of sugar do you take in your tea?




UPDATE: August 20, 2015
As I pointed out at the top of this post that the first photo looks much different than the one here at the bottom of this post. That's because poor Old Violet sat for many months without an interested buyer. Sometimes we have to tweak before these pieces speak and so I changed it up a little in hopes it would appeal more to potential buyers. You can see that transformation here at Art Deco Waterfall Buffet Sideboard REmakeover.

You will find this project linked to these fabulous Link Parties.