Lamp Black Sideboard with Silver Hepplewhite

Do you know when you envision the perfect piece of furniture for a particular spot in your home and nothing else will do?   The shape is right, the size is perfect, and it offers just the right amount of storage.

You saw it once before for sale but either the timing or the price wasn’t quite right.

When you’re finally ready, you search and you search and then it happens.  You find it again… at the right price.

That’s exactly what happened to my good friend Christine.

Christine had just finished renovating her home which included all new colors.  Most of her furniture was recylced and painted to match her new color scheme, but the room layout did require a few new, well-planned purchases.  This sideboard was one of them…

When Christine found this beauty, it looked like this…

This sideboard was going to fit perfectly on a small dining room wall once it was refinished to coordinate with Christine’s new gray and white modern decor.

That’s where I came in.

For those of you who have been following along for a while, you know that I always sand furniture before adding paint or stain.  Sanding exfoliates the dirt and smoothes the scratches.

With this particular sideboard, I was able to use the rotary sander on the top, but due to the small groves and moldings the base had to be hand sanded.  Then just to be sure I didn’t miss any glossy areas, I applied Velvet Finishes Ready – a spray deglosser.

Once dry, two coats of General Finishes Lamp Black Milk Paint and three coats of General Finishes Flat-Out-Flat clear topcoat were applied.

And the result is buttery smooth…

Even the insides of the drawers and cabinet areas were, sanded, stained and clear-coated.

UPDATE:  It’s a few months after this sideboard was delivered to my friend Christine and I’d like to provide a brief update on the how the Flat-Out-Flat topcoat held up.  

Actually, it did not hold up well at all on this painted surface.

Please don’t misunderstand.  Flat-Out-Flat has a very good use.  I have natural wood surfaces like THIS table and THIS sideboard on which it has held up perfectly.  And THIS dresser used as a cabinet in my living room has also held up perfectly.  The finishes are butter smooth and I absolutely love them. I would use Flat-Out-Flat on natural wood and stained surfaces over and over again.

Christine’s buffet, however, was painted and used as buffet where she placed glass dishes on the surface.  After just a few months of use, the surface had white marks and imperfections showing on the black surface.

It may have been that Flat-Our-Flat did not have a durable enough sheen and showed every flaw on the dark color.  Or, it could have been residual waxes and oils that bled to the top of the surface.  Regardless, I would not recommend using Flat-Out-Flat on painted surfaces in the future.

Yes, I did repaint Christine’s buffet in a much more durable enamel paint with a higher sheen.

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