Extra-Long Naturally-Aged, Old World Sideboard

The holidays are right around the corner.  Thanksgiving is just one week away ladies!  How did that happen?    It sort of snuck up on me this year.   I may have to shop for the food, iron the table linens, vacuum and dust, but I know my dining room can be ready for the feast in just a short time because I have the table, chairs, and the sideboard to accommodate the family and the food.   How about yours?   If your dining room could use a new sideboard you may be interested today’s naturally-aged, old world sideboard or using a piece of furniture you already own for the same.

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Naturally-Aged, Old World Sideboard

You know how I’ve been loving the natural wood lately.  After refinishing so many pieces over the past four years, I’ve really come to appreciate when I come across one that’s solid wood.  While I still also love painted furniture and the before and after transformation that’s created with paint, every once in a while (even more so lately) I come across a solid wood furniture piece that is stunning when stripped down to its all-natural finish.

Today’s furniture piece could also be a dresser, but I think it would be amazing in a dining room as a sideboard.  At seventy inches long, it’s perfect for holding every Thanksgiving dessert your family can whip up.

Here’s how the sideboard looked when I brought it home.

Ya ya ya… you know the story.  Old brown-stained colonial style dresser with those pointy swing handles it seems like you find on EVERY dresser of this age.  But look past that!  What I see is an extra-long sideboard with no damage, tons of storage, and drawers that all slide perfectly.

I purchased this piece off of CraigsList from a very nice woman in a neighboring town.  She’s a realtor so she often works with homes that have furniture left behind and families that are selling their home and offer her peices they cannot take with them.

Did you catch that tip?

TIP:  If you’re looking for furniture to refinish for your home, ask a few residential realtor friends to call you when they have families that leave behind furniture.

I actually wasn’t sure it was solid wood the day I brought it home.  Looking at the back side, it appeared as though it may have veneer.  And it’s sooooo heavy that I thought it may be veneer over MDF.  But as it turned out, it’s made of the same hardwood (maple I’m guessing) as THIS very heavy Ethan Allen sideboard.

It wasn’t until I started sanding it down with the DeWalt rotary sander, that I was sure it was solid wood.  It was at that moment that I knew the exact finish I wanted for this sideboard.

Just as I’ve done with the Ethan Allen sideboard and THIS pedestal table, this sideboard was going to be refinished using my naturally-aged sanding technique.

The method involves sanding back the old stain enough so that the wood looks as though it’s been naturally aging over a hundred years.  So that the wood looks as though the constant rubbing  against the smooth surface had gradually worn away the stain and left behind uneven shading and the old stain naturally remained in the grooves.

You can read exactly how to achieve this look my 24-page ebook that’s filled with tons of photos.  CLICK HERE to grab it for only $7.00.  Immediate download as a pdf file.  

The PDF download includes:

• the very specific type of furniture to look for to create a naturally-aged finish and those to avoid
• how to identify real wood vs. MDF and veneers
• a step-by-step guide on how to achieve this naturally-aged look
• the best protective topcoat for this naturally-aged finish that will not discolor the wood

The entire process results in an old-world style furniture piece that looks as though it’s been handed down through the family for centuries – and in the case of this particular sideboard, will last another.

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Choosing the Right Hardware

There’s one final step to achieving the perfect naturally-aged old world look though and that’s choosing the right hardware.

There are tons of different types of hardware from which to choose… matte black, antique brass, brushed nickel, clear glass, and bronze.  The brass was too gold and the nickel was a total mismatch.  The bronze with copper highlights didn’t work because the highlights were too red.  The black worked but it leaned more toward a colonial look rather than old world.

Trust me when I tell you that the perfect hardware for this finish is a bronze handle with gold highlights.  The wood finish naturally has golden tones and shades of brown so it only makes sense to choose hardware that complements rather than contrasts.

This is not like a painted dresser where the hardare is jewelry that you want to shine against the paint.  Shiny brass or silver against a deep navy or black is stunning, but not the look your going for with this old world finish.

Here, you want the wood to be the focal point and the hardware to be a supporting accent – working as a single family unit.

This bronze hardware is a very deep brown, boardering on black, but not black, so it’s warmer.  Just like the wood itself, the edges of the hardware look as though they’ve been rubbed and worn away to reveal a hint of golden tone that perfecly plays off of the wood.

This hardware was actually difficult to come by.  Lowes only offers one bronze with gold highlights handle and it happened to be out of stock for the past 3 weeks.  After about 4 trips to different stores and searching online, I was finally able to get my hands on enough handles.

You can find these handles on Amazon HERE .    I actually really like THESE handles too.

The matching knobs were also purchased at Lowes.  HERE is another similar knob on Amazon.

This sideboard has TWELVE drawers!  Every drawer slides perfectly and is in perfect condition inside. Did you ever think you’d love looking at a photo of the inside of a drawer so much?!

Three of the drawers are hidden behind a pair of doors that nicely add some interest to the sideboard face and make it appear to be more of dining room sideboard vs. dresser.  If you prefer, these doors could easily be removed, but I happen to love them.

The wood is protected with a clear coat that makes the surface as smooth as butter.  You’ll have to download the free PDF to find out exactly what I use though.  Trust me, it’s worth it to use this exact product.

So is your dining room Thanksgiving-ready?  

Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links to products I use myself.