Hey There!
This week I have been incredibly busy with a project I thought I would never get through. I’ve read a little bit about flipping furniture online and know a couple people that do it locally. I decided to give it a shot. I needed an accent piece for my office and I thought this dresser would be perfect. My office doubles as my closet so I can also use this for clothing storage as well.
I had this old dresser laying around at my father’s house, therefore I was able to get this piece for free!
My intention is not a DIY tutorial for this post, because this is my “guinea pig” piece. This process took about a week with MANY trial and errors. I am still learning, but this piece has taught me A LOT about painting furniture.
If you don’t feel like reading the entire story, the end result is at the bottom of the page*
BEFORE
PHASE 1
My office is painted Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams and it has different shades of blue for accents. I wanted a color that would correlate with what I already have. I also wanted it to be a statement piece for the room. I chose a blue chalk paint (Serenity Blue by Rust-Oleum).
I really had no idea what I was going to do with it. I thought I could just wing it. So, when I got home I wiped down the dresser and eagerly started painting.
I painted the entire dresser with one coat of Serenity and let it dry.
At this point I was thinking to myself, “This isn’t so bad”. I decided that it needed some white to really make this piece stand out. I went to my local Ace Hardware and picked up a can of One Step Paint (chalk paint), Bauhaus Buff by Amy Howard.
Phase 2
This was where things got tricky. I had let the first coat dry for 24 hours (the recommended was only 2 hours). I went to apply the coat of white paint and it was extremely tacky. I only coated the top drawers and top of the dresser. I “dry brushed” the rest with the white paint.
(Tip: I read online that you should mix at least one of your coats of paint with a little bit of water to make it less thick.)
Chalk paint dries extremely fast. You need to work quickly, use the accurate amount of paint in a stroke, and make sure to brush in the same direction (with the grain of the wood). I didn’t follow these rules very well and ended up with a piece that did not make me happy.
Phase 3
Back to the drawing board. I decided the white would need another coat (I probably should’ve done three, but it still looks fine!) I didn’t mind the look of the dresser, but something was off. The blue was clashing with my wall colors and my eye wanted to stay focused on the center of the dresser. I don’t think everything should be “matchy-matchy“, but it felt like an eye sore when looking around the room.
I decided that I would try painting the bottom drawers white to tone down the blue and even out the white paint.
After the drawers were all painted, I felt like I was heading in the right direction.
I spray painted the pulls a silver color.
I was debating on putting a dark wax so the blue would “go with” the room’s existing colors better..but I just wasn’t happy with it. I really didn’t want to half-ass this project.
I finally said “screw it”.
Phase 4, The Final Phase.
I dug out my Sea Salt acrylic latex paint and painted over the blue. I was hesitant to do this, because I don’t often hear of people using “wall paint” on furniture. Turns out, YES, you can do it. I had so many layers of chalk paint on this that served as a primer. The paint glided on like silk. There was absolutely no tacky texture.
I painted the sides and top with two coats of Sea Salt as well. I didn’t want the dresser to come off too “cookie-cutter” since it was the same color as the office walls, so I added strokes of white “dry brush” and distressing. I did a very thin clear coat of Poly from Rust-Oleum. (If I were to sell this piece, I would’ve done two thin coats for more protection.. or even used a clear wax.)
I should also mention that in person, the dresser is a bit more minty of a color, but changes throughout the day as Sea Salt does.
Final Result
Thanks for reading! 🙂
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