We believe that using what you have—or what someone else is no longer using, is just as ‘green’ as separating your aluminum and glass from your trash! After all, why buy brand-new when there are treasures to be created by recycling something used?  

Enter the story of the ‘old country buffet’ turned ‘french country built-in’. It all started with a design dilemma we see so often in Arizona homes: the infamous ‘niches’ that Arizona builders just love to insert at every opportunity. These niches don’t add visual interest as much as they add angst for homeowners! In this particular home there was a large entertainment niche intended to house a television. When pricing out built-in options, we gasped at the $5500 price tag for a custom unit (not including additional monies to have it painted and distressed.) Yikes! We also investigated the possibility to remove the niche entirely but structurally it did not make sense. So it was time for Option C: hunting for a piece of furniture to fit exactly in the ‘black hole’. This is like looking for a needle in a haystack if you hadn’t gathered that already… After hours on Craig’s List and numerous trips to our favorite furniture haunts, we finally stumbled across a whitewashed country-style buffet circa 1985! It was only missing the ceramic ducks and geese and we were certain that its’ many drawers were used to house mountains of mauve napkins and baby blue tablecloths over the years.

 Without even measuring (because we knew this was ‘the one’), we had the piece delivered and then quickly put on our thinking caps about how to make a too-small buffet fit into a space about 15 inches too big. We stared and measured and stared some more. Finally we got out of the box and decided to build the wall AROUND the buffet rather than try to fit the buffet INSIDE the silly niche. This was a much less costly option at only $275 for the framing and drywall and our contractor was already on-site. Perfect! The size issue was fixed but now for the ugly issue: how would we bring the 8o’s buffet up to date? Simple: paint and paint and more paint! Our favorite decorative painter was up to the  task and she spent a week on-site performing a three-layer paint treatment that gave us the distressed and aged look that was befitting to this home. Layer one was a deep purple eggplant color followed by deep mustard and topped with a  crackle finish. And don’t forget the flogging—if buffets could cry, this one might have. The ‘aging process’ used metal chains, knives, and coarse brushes. Ouch! And then the inside and shelves were painted a dark chocolate brown. Yummy! A bit of shelving re-work from our favorite snowbird handyman, Tom, and this unit was ready to house a 54” flat screen television and some favorite French accessories . The final touch was lighting the upper shelves; it felt like putting a star on top of the Christmas tree!

 All in all, mission accomplished:  a tacky but useful buffet completely transformed into a functional built-in entertainment center with a bit of ingenuity, paint, and a passion for RE-cycling! Who knew that going green could be so fun and so French?!

Total Project Cost: Used Buffet: $399, Paint treatment: $400, Shelving re-work: $100, Electrical and lights: $95, Wall Re-work: $275