What to do?
by
Suzie
+21
I stained and painted this horrible pine chest of drawers and added brass pulls but now I just don't like it. It's wrong. Has anyone got a good idea to make it gorgeous?
20 answers
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Why not just paint it a beautiful color, and sand off the edges a little to give it an aged look? Is that too simple? A light aqua is what I imagine, but I don't know what the rest of your house looks like. )
Lucy Nunn
on Mar 02, 2015
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I think a distressed look would be cool. Get rid of the wood look on the remainder of the cheat of drawers. Make it a different color and then with sandpaper give corners and various edges a distressed look. Very simple. But make sure you wait for the paint to fully dry. The distressed look is in.
SharCartist
on Mar 02, 2015
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Thank you girls. Perhaps that would look really nice. I had been trying to make a statement piece of furniture but the contrast between the stained wood and the painted drawers was too stark. Right, I'd better start sanding again!
Suzie
on Mar 02, 2015
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those pulls make it look a little like a filing cabinet, if that was the look you were going for it worked! like Lucy Nunn above, I'd be tempted to just paint it a fun colour, but again, where's it going and what colours are in the room? I did one similar for our grandkids bunkie room and painted it 'signal red' it went from waanh to WOW! it's adorable and I used the original wood pulls...it was a simple project. Good luck and show us the after!!
Bananas!
on Mar 02, 2015
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I would agree with Banana! The pulls are dominating it and giving it a file cabinet appearance. . For an easy fix - try doing some brown stenciling on drawers - maybe a light twirling scroll design to ease the contrast and finding metal drawer handles that are less dominate and bit more delicate and painting them the same color brown. Best of luck!
Starr Durrant
on Mar 02, 2015
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Thank you everyone for your ideas. I am looking at it now wondering what in earth I was thinking when I did this. I was half inspired by Oliver Bonas furniture - not sure you get him in the US and Canada. By the way, I had probably the best holiday in my life in Canada last year. We drove an RV from Calgary to Vancouver via Banff, Jasper, Whistler and Tofino and it as awesome. Love you Canadians and Americans so much.
Suzie
on Mar 02, 2015
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Wood appliques and some trim around each drawer? And I agree about the pulls-too industrial looking. But your paint job is really good. Keep up the good work!
Rhonda
on Mar 03, 2015
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I think you might like a deep bronze for the pulls - just repaint. And I agree that perhaps you should consider painting the rest of the unit to contrast the drawers. So much work already...mahalo for sharing!
Jazz Caldwell
on Mar 03, 2015
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How about making it look like an apothecary cabinet? I just saw a cabinet in one of these ? posts, and it was amazing! She distressed each drawer front (each in soft, but different colors..blues, browns, creams) and then added metal scrap booking slots (Michae's) to the top of each drawer and then labeled each one. It was sooo cute!! Good luck and post an "after" photo!
Vickie Miles
on Mar 03, 2015
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I agree with those suggesting repainting the stained wood. You could start out with a shade that's not too much darker than the drawers... maybe something like this: http://sensible-redesign.blogspot.com/2011/09/two-toned-dresser.html. You could also add color by painting the stained wood to match the decor of the room in which the chest will live. Here's an example using two shades of blue: http://www.jennaburger.com/2012/03/painted-desk-and-tips-on-painting-furniture/ Or you could just leave it alone. See this discussion: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/is-my-two-tone-dresser-too-dark-now-good-questions-185577 Good luck!
Pat C.
on Mar 03, 2015
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I would "upholster" the drawers with a bold pattern fabric. Decopage them when finished. The drawer pulls would not stand out so much.
Pamela Golden
on Mar 04, 2015
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Suzanne, I think you are really close on this. If you keep only the top of the piece in wood stain, and then paint the other stained areas the same color as the drawers, I think it would be lovely. You might want to take the drawer pulls off and give them a quick blast of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint and I think the darker handles would then be a great tie-in to the stained wood top. I have seen pieces finished similarly to that, and they look charming.
Pam Mariner Good
on Mar 04, 2015
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I think the brass pulls give it a vintage look, and if you like that you could decoupage clippings, antique pictures, and what have you to complete the look. Otherwise I would replace the pulls with something that suits your goal better. That might be the easiest option.
Kamontoya
on Mar 05, 2015
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I think you need some contrast. How about black pulls?
Liliana Lejos De México
on Mar 05, 2015
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Did you refinish the top? In the picture it looks shiny like veneer/shiny and drawers have the chalk look; maybe that is what is throwing you off. Be sure to show us the "re-redo"
Sheila D
on Mar 08, 2015
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I think you really do not like the piece of furniture. Why don't you just toss and put your energy into something else.
Gloria tulip
on Mar 08, 2015
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gee Gloria tulip....that's not very positive feedback! she went to all that work already, what makes you think she doesn't like the piece? it's a chest of drawers! what's not to like?
Bananas!
on Mar 11, 2015
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@Suzie if you're still reading and planning something, just google 'two tone chest of drawers' then switch to 'images' there are some great ones that will inspire you ... after looking at them, I think I see what you were going for, most of those have the body of the chest in white and the drawers are stained wood colour......super nice! could it be yours just has it backwards?
Bananas!
on Mar 11, 2015
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Bananas, thank you so much for your posts. I have to agree that Gloria tulips comment was rather surprising and had chosen to ignore it! But thank you for sticking up for me. It is a useful piece of furniture and I don't want to toss it, just make it look better! Anyway, I did what you suggested and googled two tone chests of drawers and see what you mean.... they look really nice and I think you have come up with a brilliant idea. I would also like to do what Pam Mariner Good suggested of giving the drawer pulls a 'quick blast of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint' but don't think I can get anything like that here in the UK. Has anyone got a good idea of how to tone the pulls down with anything else?? Thanks everyone for all your valuable comments, I really do appreciate your time and enthusiasm for my dilemma!
Suzie
on Mar 11, 2015
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I did not mean to literally toss it. Just put it out of sight for awhile and one day you will have a brilliant idea about what to do to the chest to make it the way you want. In the meantime, work on another project.
Gloria tulip
on Mar 11, 2015
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