Marketplace Mid-Century Makeover
Everyone loves a cheap facebook marketplace find. I found this cute dresser for $40 on marketplace and upcycled it to it's fullest potential! I hope this encourages you to stop scrolling past all those hidden treasures out there!
First things first is get the dresser into a well lit and well ventilated room. This will allow you to see your paint job as you're working and keep the air circulating allowing the best drying time and the least smell.
I like to use a vinegar water mix as the first step to prepping the surface. it's inexpensive, deodorizing and fast drying. Spray this all over the drawers, top, bottom and legs. Wipe everything down with an old rag or paper towel and allow to dry for 15 minutes before the next step.
This step is completely optional but I would highly recommend it especially with a dresser like this one. Sometimes drawers have an order. Though they might all look the same and be the same size the drawers will only close in a certain order. I number them from top to bottom 1-5 in this case.
After numbering the drawers you can go ahead and remove them. Sand the entire dresser and drawers with sandpaper. Here I have used a 220 grit sanding disk on an orbit sander. Lightly scuff the entire surface for better paint adherence.
This particular dresser has built in hardware. I taped the outside of the handles and spray painted them in brass for a metal looking finish.
After sanding and allowing the hardware to dry I painted the drawers. I used white chalk paint by Rustoleum in the shade linen white.
After the first coat you're going to need to sand it. Chalk paint doesn't tend to self level so you aren't going to want to skip this step. You will end up with brush strokes. I used 220 grit sandpaper here once again just to smooth it over. After this I applied a second coat of the Chalk paint and the drawers were finished.
While the drawers were drying I got started on the body. The only thing I did differently on the body was use gray paint. The paint I used here is Behr paint and primer all in one. The colour I used is called "granite boulder" with a FLAT finish. This paint is fantastic and I would recommend it over chalk paint. Again here I applied one coat, sanded it using 220 and then added a second coat.
While everything else was drying I removed and sprayed the legs in the same colour as the hardware. After they dried I put them back on the dresser. (not shown) After everything is dry I cover everything in a waterbased polyurethane. A dresser tends to be a high traffic piece of furniture so this step is impotant if you want to avoid scratching and chipping.
Allow the polyurethane to dry for 12-24 hours before using the dresser.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
How did you apply the polyurethane - brush, rag, roller?
Why did you use chalk paint on the drawers and regular paint on the rest? Is there an advantage to using chalk paint over regular paint? It looks beautiful - I have been wanting to paint our dressers but don't have the nerve to start!!
can you spray the dresser instead to brush paint?