Old Vintage Dresser Turned Modern

Here is what the dresser looked like before we did anything to it. It had the vintage french provincial style written all over it.

Since the dresser had a super smooth and slick factory finish, I made sure to prep it before applying any paint. Remember, your new paint job is only as good as how well your paint sticks to the surface underneath. If you skip cleaning and scuff sanding it, your paint will easily scratch off.

So I cleaned the dresser, scuff sanded it, and then sprayed 2 coats of BIN Shellac primer on it.

I also stripped the top of the dresser with a chemical stripper so I could restain it.

At first I wanted to go a different direction than I ended up going. But when it didn't work out, I stepped away from the project and came back to it a few months later with a fresh perspective (and motivation).

So what you see below are the remains of my first attempt, where you can see some paint and some primer already on the dresser.

When I started working on it again, I sprayed a beautiful, deep teal blue called Homestead blue onto the dresser with my paint sprayer.

After a couple of coats were dry, I sealed the paint with my favorite water-based poly.

I restained the top of the dresser with a deep, dreamy java gel stain. After it was dry I sealed it with multiple coats of oil based poly, since the stain was oil based.

But I decided that the teal needed a little more depth, so I added some antiquing glaze with my paint brush. You can see the difference it made in the photo.

After the glaze dried completely, I sprayed another coat or two of my favorite poly over the glaze.

Finally, to finish off the modern look, I attached simple modern pulls.

I love the curves and how the light plays off of them, creating shadows and highlights on the drawers.

Click here to access the supply list, including the paint color and hardware used.