Guest Room Dresser Makeover

by Puddy's House

I have been slowly updating our Guest Room with used furniture that I've bought. I sold all the old laminate furniture out of this room and am now giving it all a fresh new look.

guest room dresser makeover, chalk paint, how to, painted furniture

I bought this piece on Craigslist for $60 over a year ago, and it has just sat in the garage awaiting its makeover. I didn’t want a huge dresser for the guest room, and I wanted one with curves and legs and this was just the dresser. Plus, it was nice and solid wood. Even though it had already been painted, I wanted a stained top. I don’t know why I get these crazy ideas. I really don’t enjoy stripping, sanding and staining!! I’m sure that is part of why it took me over a year to get started on it. But, nonetheless, I started with stripping it.

I like to use Citristrip. It’s not smelly, which is nice. I set up shop in the garage for this part of the project. I applied the Citristrip and let it do its magic. I scraped the paint off with a plastic putty knife. Then, I sanded the top.

I was so happy with how pretty the natural wood was after all that hard work. As I said, I’m not a huge fan of staining either….its time consuming and requires patience, and I don’t have an abundance of time or patience. :) So, I used the Minwax finishing cloths.

It really couldn’t have been easier. I wiped them on using gloves and that was it. I think I did 2 coats, a few days apart, just to get a consistent color.

Now, it was time for what I consider the fun part….painting. I removed the tape, took off the hardware and took the drawers out of the dresser, and taped the dresser top so I didn’t get any paint on my new stain. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for the dresser, first coat in Paris Grey. For the second and third coats, I used Pure White. Then, it was time for distressing, so the dresser got moved outside so I didn’t make a sandy mess inside. I should’ve counted how many times and in how many locations this dresser was moved to!

I also painted the hardware with Rustoleum’s Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze.

The distressing brought out the details of the curves and the hints of grey underneath all the white. It’s been done for weeks, if not a month or so at this point and I’ve still not styled anything on it. I need a new mirror for above the dresser and probably a lamp too. I’ve waited so long to redo this room, that I’m not rushing out to just buy items, I want to get it right. Next up is the headboard! :)