Lamp Black Buffet

I picked this antique buffet up in East Texas a while back from a sweet lady who also refinishes furniture. It wasn't quite her style, and she was pretty busy painting other things. I was happy to take it off her hands! The walnut veneer and wood appliques definitely showed their age. By the time I got it all clean, a lot of appliques were just falling off. There were some stubborn stains on the top as well. I had to do several repairs, including filling in areas of missing veneer, gluing on what I could from the appliques coming off, and molding feet and appliques that were just missing entirely. See the comment section for photos! I also had to entirely sand off the finish as it was either crackled or flaking off. Once sanded, the wood was pretty light, but I knew I wanted to do this black wash, and the light wood wasn't going to fit my vision for it. I then applied clear shellac to the entire piece to seal in tannins and provide a smooth surface for paint. I also stained the entire buffet in a walnut stain. Once that was all dry, I went in with General Finishes Lamp black milk paint. There are various ways you can achieve this finish. My favorite method is by simply hand-painting it, misting with water as I work to keep the paint thin and workable. I then take a damp, lint-free cloth and wipe back areas where I want to see the wood (raised areas or areas where you would normally see wear). I applied two coats, sanding with a 300 sanding sponge between to ensure a smooth finish. Once fully dried, I sprayed General Finishes High Performance Top Coat in GLOSS (two coats). Yes, gloss. But why does it look matte? Because my final coat was in GF High Performance Dead Flat. The reason for applying gloss first is to maintain clarity and avoid haziness in this rich color. If you go right in with satin, flat, or dead flat, you will encounter a white haze over the black. This is because those sheens contain higher amounts of polymers (flattening agents), which is why they look milky in the can. Gloss does not. So by sealing in the rich color with gloss, you ensure that when you place flat or dead flat over it, it will not be cloudy. Just don't mess up that final coat! You can't keep layering those flatter sheens, or you will get that white haze. Lately, I've been seeing so much misinformation in group chats on how to best avoid streaks/clouding when top coating. A lot of people mention adding paint to your top coat. That does absolutely nothing except compromise your top coat. There is still high solids in satin, flat, dead flat, and adding another solid (like paint) will not avoid color distortion/clouding. Some people say it's best to wet sand. Do not do this with certain products, as you introduce moisture and risk contamination, which ultimately will cause your finish to fail. Okay, rant over! The hardware is original to the buffet and was cleaned with boiled water and white vinegar. The peel and stick paper is from Amazon.