Dresser Face Lift
by
Julie Martin
9 Materials
$200
5 Hours
Easy
We needed some extra drawer space and were headed to Ikea, when my husband mentioned buying a real wooden dresser from an antique store and refinishing it. The dresser we purchased had a stamp on the back, which showed it originated from Denmark. The homely little thing has been transformed into something we are proud to have in our bedroom. The dresser cost us $60.
The plain wooden desk desperately needed help
We bought this plain little dresser from a local antique store. Our first thoughts were probably the same as yours: ugly :(
The Products we used for the Desk
We used approximately 1/4 of a small can of the primer and the same amount of chalk paint. We used less than that amount in the clear soft wax and just a dab of dark soft wax. The price of purchasing these items at first is expensive, but we have used them for several projects and still have some left over. You get what you pay for. If you take care of the brushes, they will last for years.
Covering up the Original Varnish and Knots
We removed all the drawers and gave everything a coat of primer. We used a product called Bin.
One Coat of Primer
Bin dries in minutes and provided enough coverage, as we knew we would be trying out a few antiquing techniques and would want to scrape some off.
Preparing for the Hardware
After we primed the drawers, we plugged up the holes with some of the original drawer pulls. See next photo.
Original Drawer Pulls
The original drawer pulls had wooden stoppers attached that inserted into the dresser drawers. We cut the stoppers off and inserted them into the drawers. We had to use a rubber hammer to make sure they went deep enough. We then gave the drawers another coat of Bin primer.
Time for Chalk Paint, Sandpaper and Clear Wax
If you have never used chalk paint, you need to start. The product we used was a high quality paint from Annie Sloane. It is expensive - approximately $40 for a small can, but it covers in one coat, and we used 1/4 of a can for this project. We chose the colour of old white, but this company offers many other colours. We then used simple 120 grit and 60 grit sandpaper to remove some of the paint and primer. We focused on the edges of the drawers first, where natural wear would be, but then we used the sandpaper more aggressively and began scratching away at different sections of it. When we were satisfied we had "beat up" the dresser enough to our liking, we applied clear wax over the entire piece. The was comes from the same company: Annie Sloane. You dabble it on lightly and use the chubby brush to blend it into the wood. At this stage, we noticed a definite improvement from the original piece, but we knew it needed more.
The Beauty of Dark Wax over Light Paint
The last product we used was Annie Sloane's dark wax. We used this sparingly with the same chubby brush we had used for the clear wax; a little goes a long way. This product immediately brought out the charm of the little dresser. We also drilled pre-holes into the wooden plugs, so we could screw in our new smaller, slightly darker brass hardware.
Voila!
The final picture shows the charm the antique dresser brings to our modern bedroom.
Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 5 comments
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It looks really good!! Nice!
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Thanks, Hillela. It was fairly easy, but I appreciate you saying so :)
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I love this style and have wanted to do my bathroom vanity in a light blue chalk paint but I have been told it won't work in a bathroom. I don't see why not, this is to die for beautiful. That would really "make" that bathroom.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Did you sand the original finish before applying the primer? I love love love the look and admit that I am going to copy it 100% on a matching set of maple dressers I've had since childhood (45 years)
Could I use a white primer on my dressers vs. a clear primer?
Julie the reason I asked about using a primer before applying chalk paint is that the dresser has an old top coat (poly probably) plus it's been sprayed with that wood cleaner (Pride??) so I'm concerned about the surface not being paint friendly--without priming it or even sanding?