The Saga of the Buffet

Almost four years ago I decided that I wanted a buffet for my dining room, something that I could serve food on for Sunday dinners and that could store crockpots and tablecloths. I researched and finally decided on a buffet from Four Chairs and had them finish it in white. I loved it! It was the perfect size and functioned just as I had hoped.

I even made a special table runner for it that I had machine quilted with a heat resistant layer (like in hot pads) so that I could protect the top. Well, it didn't work. The finish on the top bubbled up because of the heat and the runner shrunk and got stained. I was sad about that, but dealt with it by covering up the top all the time.

Then about a year ago I noticed that the buffet had these strange circular dark spots all over the front. I took a drawer to Four Chairs and asked about it. The nice girl there told me that it was because it was pine and pine should never be finished in white because the acid in the knots will always eventually show through; they should have explained that to me when I ordered it. She suggested I refinished it in a darker color. But I didn't want a darker color. The walls in my dining room are navy blue and the rest of the furniture is wood; I really liked the contrast of the white.

She said that they really wanted me to be happy with my purchase for a lifetime so she offered to order a new buffet in maple and have it finished the way I wanted, she would take back the pine one (which she could refinish in a darker color and re-sale) and I would just pay the difference between the cost of pine and maple. Amazing! I was so happy! What a great business!

She also suggested that when I got the new one I could tile the top, thereby making it heat resistant and easy to clean.

Last Saturday I took a tile class at Home Depot and then applied my newfound knowledge to tiling the top of my new buffet. I still have one more step to do ~ sealing the grout, but I have to wait a couple of days.

Here's the beautiful result: