A friend of mine was moving and offered this little chest if I'd move it. You bet! I brought it home and repaired a drawer guide, and lightly sanded and cleaned it, preparing for painting.
by Pamela Field
From BLAH to YAH! Raised Stencil Project
10 Materials
$25
3 Hours
Medium
Single dressers are my favorite project pieces. Their size lends them to many options for your home. Entryways, bathroom, or bedroom these smaller pieces with drawers offer a lot of function for very little space.
Also, they're quicker to do than a huge armoire or triple dresser. HA! 
I had this great little stencil with several different coordinating patterns I thought would be fun to use for the chest. Using an old credit card, I spread wall mud over the stencil and created a pattern. Allowed it to dry then lightly sanded the raised stencil, and removed all the dust.
I covered the whole drawer front with gold spray paint and a top coat of polyurethane.
Applied a thin coat of wall mud to body of the dresser. Rolled over it with a stencil roller with croc design and allowed it to dry before lightly sanding. Painted the body and over the gold on the drawer fronts. Using a wet chore boy sponge, I carefully wet sanded over the stencil to reveal the gold pattern.Brown glaze over the entire piece before finishing with a top coat of gloss poly.
A long way from the plain white chest, this new finish will brighten a room.
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4 of 271 comments
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![Robyn Garner]()
Robyn Garneron Dec 28, 2020Gorgeous!
![Pamela Field]()
Pamela Fieldon Dec 29, 2020Thanks Robyn!
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![Leslie]()
Leslieon Dec 28, 2020Beautiful, you just turned an everyday piece of furniture into an heirloom without destroying a real antique. You can be proud to pass this down to someone who loves it in your family. Thank you for that and thank you for your tutorial :)
![Pamela Field]()
Pamela Fieldon Dec 29, 2020thanks so much! And fun too!
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Have a question about this project?
This piece turned out beautiful. I wish you had pictures of the sides. You said you used the crock roller and mud on the body, I assume you mean the sides?
The picture posted of the croc roller shows the top of the chest. Sides would be the same.
:D
Ran thru your directions (which I thought were just perfect with one exclusion-sorry there were so many questions that were obvious to me) the last part where you used a brown glaze before the final poly....what type of brown glaze did you use? Thinking not antiquing wax because the poly would not stick that well.
I usually have Floetrol around (extender) and mixed some with brown paint. You can make a glaze with any color with that stuff! Brush on, wipe off!
*shrugs* I know there's all kinds of fancy stuff out there, and I enjoy them too, but mostly I try to use what I have on hand. :D
Like everyone else, I am truly inspired by your piece and am in the process of re-working an old Craig’s List number that was the perfect candidate for the project!
After much searching I found the stencil based on your previous mention that it might be found at Stencil Ease. It is and was in the Oak Lane Studio collection. It is called Ikat Wall Stencil.
I was able to imitate your general design (which is brilliant by the way). I had to modify my design layout based on a few size considerations and was oddly restricted by raised trim on the piece. But it’s coming along beautifully!
Having said that I had a few quick questions:
How long after painting that first coat of paint do you wait before you wait wet-distress the raised stencil? Do you wait until it’s completely dry first?
Do you put a coat of poly on BEFORE you add the brown glaze? I’ve seen it recommended on the manufacturer sites but if you just did the paint on/rub off on the newly dried paint without the poly, I’m wondering if you have to wait longer for the paint to cure before rolling on and rubbing off the glaze.
The manufacturers make a big deal about waiting 12 hours to add a final poly topcoat. How long did you wait before you did your final topcoat (ie: after the glaze)?
You have an amazing eye and great spatial relational sensibilities which are admired and imitated by others but are clearly a singular gift for you!
Michelle B.
Thank you so much for your generous compliments!
To clarify:
It's easier to wet distress if you don't wait too long, As you mentioned, I used the poly to help protect the gold painted raised stencil before distressing. If I hadn't, the gold raised stencil I was trying to save would be rubbed off too, As long as the poly was dry, it shouldn't be a problem.
As far as glaze goes...
You can use a top coat to seal the finish before using a glaze if you're wanting more control or time to apply. This is helpful when you want to keep the original paint color the same and only emphasize the details.
If you're using a chalk paint for example, the glaze will adhere to the finish more. If you're using the glaze for antiquing, more glaze is usually used and protective coat not necessary.
You can glaze in any color of course. Great way to highlight details,or adding depth to the finish, like the pearl glaze on this one:
https://www.hometalk.com/18094955/would-mama-be-happy-or-not-
Always finish with top coat. :D
Does that answer your questions?
Love to see your project when you're finished!
Would Mama Be Happy, or Not?