I love me a good furniture makeover. There is just something about taking an ugly, old dresser and turning it into something that makes you smile every time you walk by.
My parents picked up this tallboy a few months ago and had it sitting in their garage. I, being the picker that I am, asked what they were doing with it. My mom didn’t love it so she said I could have it if I wanted. Whoop! Just what I wanted to hear. This little beaut was mine all mine.
My original thought was to put it in our living room as our TV stand because that way Alex couldn’t click the TV on and off anymore. Also, because we are still using our “temporary” coffee table as our entertainment center. Uh-huh. John wasn’t sold on the idea so I quickly claimed the dresser for my craft room. This gave me pretty much free reign to pick whatever color my little furniture paintin’ heart desired.
I settled on “Winner’s Circle” from Clark + Kensington. It was definitely my Soul Paint. It is a sort of bright turquoise-green and I love it. I bought a quart of Ace’s Royal brand.
First, I removed all of the hardware. It was a lovely shade of tarnished brass. Not my fave.
After yanking all of those handles off, I put a coat of primer over the existing paint so I could get some easier coverage with my light color. I also wanted to make sure I had a little grab since I didn’t sand the dresser down. (I wasn’t sure how old it was or how many layers of paint, maybe lead, were hiding) I used a brush for the primer mostly because I didn’t have any rollers handy.
I patiently let that dry for 2 days because Alex didn’t feel like napping so mommy could paint. I did manage to get the hardware painted in Rustoleum’s Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint, though (I picked it up from Walmart for less than $4). They turned out so great, now I want to paint all hardware. Hold me back! It is pretty hard to tell how it looks in this picture, but trust me, they look good!
Once Alex finally decided to rest, I booked it to the garage so fast that I forgot to tie Luna up outside. Good thing she’s an angel dog and didn’t run away. She just moseyed on past the garage after my first coat of everything was almost done (read: 40 mins later). I quickly tied her up and got to painting my second coat.
The can said to wait 2-4 hours before re-coating, but when you are working on nap time, you don’t have that much time. So I waited until the paint was no longer shiny (totally acceptable in my books) and started working on my second coat. By all means, if you have the time, follow the instructions on your paint can!
Once that was all done, I set it aside to dry overnight. I really wanted to be sure everything was dried and cured before sticking my handles back on and moving it into the house. Especially because I put two coats on rapid-fire.
For the actual paint, I used a small foam roller. It helped the paint remain really smooth and since I’m pretty terrible with a paint brush, it made it super fool-proof. Also, I don’t love brush marks. Personal preference.
The next day I dragged it all into my craft room and reattached the hardware. I am kind of in love with it. I can’t help but put a big stupid grin on every time I walk by it. Aside from it’s beauty, it allowed me to get rid of FOUR plastic drawer organizers. How could I not be in love??
Here it is all set up. I feel like I definitely need to hang something over it. I have an old window that I might spruce up a bit and use. We’ll see where the wind takes me.
