Creating a Tuscan-Style Patio – Part 2

So, I’m still working on my Tuscan style patio and my pillars look great. I started looking for some type of buffet table because my family has company over a lot and we spend an enormous amount of time outside. My goal was to find something that was old-world looking, would hold up in the heat and wind, was functional, and affordable. So I made a beautiful multi-purpose buffet that fits in with my Tuscan style perfectly. Plus, it cost me under a hundred dollars!

I went to a shop near here that sells what they take from demolished houses. There are just rows and rows of all ages and styles of doors, windows, door knobs. It’s paradise for those of us who use everything for anything. Anyway, I found three huge old doors that had been taken out of a house they had torn down. In the old days, there was nothing made on a home that didn’t have some kind of unique little decoration or embellishment.

One of the doors was going to be the top of my “table” so I wanted it to be the least beat up. One door would be in the front of my table so I wanted it to have the most carving and design on it. And, I was going to cut one door in half and use it for the sides of my table. I found three doors that would make a perfect buffet. They were big, heavy over-size outside doors from an old pre-1900 building. The one thing that you need to be sure of is that they are the same size otherwise your table is going to turn out cockeyed.

When I got them home I sanded them. Don’t use stain remover on the doors because you want them to retain that “old” looking quality. Don’t sand them all the way down to the wood either. The goal is just to get any gunk off of them and make the edges smooth. Next, I antiqued each door. I did this before I cut the one door in half because I wanted both sides of my table to match.

After the doors were dry, I used long black screws and screwed the front and sides together. The, I glued some black caps that look like the top of old wrought iron stakes over the screws. Some people that I know use wood glue to glue the pieces together before they screw them together, but I didn’t do that. I think it’s a matter of choice really.

Next I got some clear matte silicone adhesive and ran it around the edges of the table filling in the gaps so that when kool-aid gets spilled it won’t go down into the table. Then I mixed some stain in a matte polyurethane and painted the whole table.

The most expensive part of my project was the piece of plexiglass that I purchased and screwed onto the top of my table so that I have the great carving and engraving clearly visible, but I can still sit a glass on the table. Once I screwed the plexiglass on the table I ran a bead of matte silicone around the edge so there is no danger of leaking there.

I didn’t expect to be able to really put a lot of stuff under the table, but found that an apartment size refrigerator fit perfectly. Then, my friend decided that shelving on the other side would be great, and it was!

So, now I have a beautiful antique Tuscan Style buffet that fits on my patio perfectly! And, it was a one weekend job!

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