Meet Kate Buffington: Furniture refinisher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kate Buffington and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kate, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
It has been a naturally evolving process over the last 5 years of wanting to do something besides teaching and raising my own children that brought me joy. Refurbishing vintage furniture has always been something I did for necessity, getting married young and having no money and needing furniture led me to some DIY projects. I loved making over furniture pieces for myself and it has slowly led to custom work and creating a piece for someone to enjoy in their home. 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Redoing furniture takes lots of time and patience! There can not be enough emphasis on prep work. Which includes sanding down a piece a few times with different grits of sand paper, potentially stripping a piece, cleaning, fixing drawers, repairing chips and any structural damage, taking off hardware and cleaning up, then wiping everything back down with a tack cloth to prime and paint. I usually sand in between coats of paint and I seal with top coats. So a piece of furniture literally has blood, sweat and tears in it! You have to go slow with old furniture. Usually with each piece I do learn something new. I really want if it’s a client owned piece for my customer to feel I kept some of the original charm but also gave the piece some new life. For me every step of the process I enjoy because I get to see the transformation of the piece step by step.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well Fort Collins is known for our beautiful hiking trails and breweries! So when friends come to visit we love taking them up to Horsetooth Reservoir, Spring Creek Trail and usually any park with our kids too. Our favorite breweries are O’Dell and New Belgium. You have to stop by for a taster or two as both breweries have an abundance of outdoor seating and food trucks are usually there too. Our favorite restaurants and bars are Tap n Handle, Choice City Deli and for a fancier night out sans kids in Old Town we love Austin’s.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband Marc has been the backbone to Kate’s Reclaimed. We have 3 small children so if they are awake and I’m painting he’s watching them. Thanks for helping me move so many pieces of furniture, cut wood, fix a drawer and help out with all my crazy projects.

Instagram: Katesreclaimed
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kreclaimed/

Image Credits
All photos taken by me, with my permission and with my phone.