Hey everyone! I scored this dresser for free on craigslist the other day. The moment I saw it I knew it would be gorgeous once it was spruced up. I replied to the posting when it was only 7 mins old and told the lady I wanted the dresser and would come get it RIGHT NOW...I even told her that I'd pay her 10 bucks for the dresser if she'd pick me! Well when she didn't get back to me I assumed that someone else had spied it right after she posted it too! Turns out I was the first reply she got....out of 65 replies....in the first hour!!!!! WOW! She told me she had to leave the house but that she'd give me her address and let me have it if I wanted it. SCORE! So I drove over there...super stoked because it was only about 15 mins away from my house. I had to lug this solid wood extremely heavy dresser into my car BY MYSELF at 7 months preggo! It wasn't fun but after I took all the drawers out it wasn't super bad....and there was NO chance I was leaving this dresser to be snagged by one of the other 65 vultures that wanted it. No way!
So after I got it I just knew that this dresser was destined for some color. I had something bright and cheery in mind as this was gonna be my baby girl's dresser. After consulting my color expert (aka Karli from Rocky Bella) we determined that THIS was in fact the Turquoise dresser.
So after going to Home Depot and pouring over paint color options I decided on Glidden's Peacock Blue for a dark wash all over and Deepest Aqua in a dry brush over the top. I was excited to get started!
So the next day I removed all the hardwear and started sanding like crazy. I started at an 80 grit with my hand sander and worked my way up to 240. It got the wood buttery smooth! I cleaned all the dust off the dresser with an old t-shirt and mixed up my paint.
**For anyone that doesn't know this...Home Depot sells small paint samples (not the ones with the little brush in the bottle) that are only 2.99 and they will custom mix any swatch color that you pick up for that price. Its an awesome way to go if you only want a small amount of paint and don't want to pay for a huge gallon or quart of a color that you might not want to use again. ***
To do the paint wash of the darker color I poured about a half cup of the paint into a plastic container and diluted it by half with water and mixed it thoroughly. It kinda had the consistency of melted icecream...Yummy! I brushed on an even coat all over the dresser and drawers and let it dry fully. You'll be amazed how gorgeous hardwood pieces look with a paint wash...it adds just the right amount of color but still shows the different wood tones through. I did two full coats of the dark blue paint wash and then went back over it and touched up lighter areas. Once that was fully dry I mixed up my lighter color. I diluted that color by half with water as well and barely touched my "dry" paint brush into the paint. I quickly brushed it sparaticly over the top of the darker color making it purposely uneven. (when your doing a dry brush technique you want to make sure that you put the smallest amount of paint possible on the brush each time...you want to see the brush marks which will add a lot of texture and character to the piece)
After I applied a single coat to the dresser I let it dry fully and moved on to the hardwear. The hardwear was in amazing shape and just needed some Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint to freshen it up a little. I did a total of two light coats of ORB and then once they were dry I applied a light coat of polycrylic spray over the top to help protect the paint from rubbing off. While the hardwear was drying and the dresser was fully dry I distressed it pretty heavily with 240 grit sandpaper and my hand sander. I wanted to add a lot of wear marks as well as show off the beautiful wood color. After the distressing and a thorough rub down to get rid of dust I did a total of 3 coats of Minwax's Wipe on Poly in gloss...letting each coat dry and then lightly sanding with 240 grit sandpaper in between each coat. I waited a full 24 hours after doing the last poly coat before I put the hardwear back on. I wanted to make really sure that the finish had cured so I didn't scratch it. I can't tell you guys how much I love this dresser! Its seriously the most satisfying transformation that I think I've ever done. I definately know now that I need to use bright, uplifting colors more often!
Here she is....pardon all the pics...I was kinda excited......
I'm linking up with the following parties...
Transformation Thursday@ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Furniture Feature Friday@ Miss Mustard Seeds
Flaunt it Friday@Chic on a Shoestring
Saturday Night Special@Funky Junk Interiors
Paint Party@Domestically Speaking
So after going to Home Depot and pouring over paint color options I decided on Glidden's Peacock Blue for a dark wash all over and Deepest Aqua in a dry brush over the top. I was excited to get started!
So the next day I removed all the hardwear and started sanding like crazy. I started at an 80 grit with my hand sander and worked my way up to 240. It got the wood buttery smooth! I cleaned all the dust off the dresser with an old t-shirt and mixed up my paint.
**For anyone that doesn't know this...Home Depot sells small paint samples (not the ones with the little brush in the bottle) that are only 2.99 and they will custom mix any swatch color that you pick up for that price. Its an awesome way to go if you only want a small amount of paint and don't want to pay for a huge gallon or quart of a color that you might not want to use again. ***
To do the paint wash of the darker color I poured about a half cup of the paint into a plastic container and diluted it by half with water and mixed it thoroughly. It kinda had the consistency of melted icecream...Yummy! I brushed on an even coat all over the dresser and drawers and let it dry fully. You'll be amazed how gorgeous hardwood pieces look with a paint wash...it adds just the right amount of color but still shows the different wood tones through. I did two full coats of the dark blue paint wash and then went back over it and touched up lighter areas. Once that was fully dry I mixed up my lighter color. I diluted that color by half with water as well and barely touched my "dry" paint brush into the paint. I quickly brushed it sparaticly over the top of the darker color making it purposely uneven. (when your doing a dry brush technique you want to make sure that you put the smallest amount of paint possible on the brush each time...you want to see the brush marks which will add a lot of texture and character to the piece)
After I applied a single coat to the dresser I let it dry fully and moved on to the hardwear. The hardwear was in amazing shape and just needed some Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint to freshen it up a little. I did a total of two light coats of ORB and then once they were dry I applied a light coat of polycrylic spray over the top to help protect the paint from rubbing off. While the hardwear was drying and the dresser was fully dry I distressed it pretty heavily with 240 grit sandpaper and my hand sander. I wanted to add a lot of wear marks as well as show off the beautiful wood color. After the distressing and a thorough rub down to get rid of dust I did a total of 3 coats of Minwax's Wipe on Poly in gloss...letting each coat dry and then lightly sanding with 240 grit sandpaper in between each coat. I waited a full 24 hours after doing the last poly coat before I put the hardwear back on. I wanted to make really sure that the finish had cured so I didn't scratch it. I can't tell you guys how much I love this dresser! Its seriously the most satisfying transformation that I think I've ever done. I definately know now that I need to use bright, uplifting colors more often!
Here she is....pardon all the pics...I was kinda excited......
I'm linking up with the following parties...
Transformation Thursday@ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Furniture Feature Friday@ Miss Mustard Seeds
Flaunt it Friday@Chic on a Shoestring
Saturday Night Special@Funky Junk Interiors
Paint Party@Domestically Speaking
