Dresser Refresh- Just Add White Paint!
My sister found this IKEA chest of drawers on marketplace and asked me to refinish them for her. White paint worked its magic again and I’m so happy with the transformation!
This was the before; the finish was an orange stain with a high sheen gloss.
The entire piece was sanded well to remove all of the topcoat.
There was some damage to the surface consisting of deep scratches and dents.
I applied wood filler to the badly affected areas.
I then sanded well to ensure the finish was smooth prior to painting.
For this project used Farrow & Ball eggshell. I didn’t apply a primer before applying the paint since the piece had been sanded well and wasn’t dark wood. However, this may have been advisable in hindsight.
I applied the paint with my sprayer which worked so well to produce an even finish. I have never used this brand of paint before and always wanted to try it. Having worked with it now, I love how easy it was to apply and how good the finished result was. The paint was the only cost of this project and although pricier than some other brands, having used it now, I really would say that it was worth the splurge.
Although the previous stain wasn’t dark there was some bleed through initially. However, I applied three coats and once the third coat was applied the coverage was good and there were no issues with the stain showing. This may have also been due to needing to water the paint down for use in the sprayer.
I used a brush to carefully apply the paint to the edges of the drawers just to save time with taping to protect the other areas. I knew I would be distressing this area and the paint did not leave any brushstrokes.
There was a large chunk of wood missing on the foot of the piece which I filled with filler and sanded prior to painting by hand also.
Finally, I distressed lightly on all the edges using my detail sander. This was so quick and easy and produced great details to the piece and added so much character.
We decided to reuse the original hardware and it looks so good in contrast to the white.
The finished look- I just loved how it turned out! I think this demonstrates so well what a difference just adding white paint can make to the feel of a piece.
The light distressing adds so much character and really finished off the overall look and feel.
It was so much fun doing a piece for someone else that isn’t going in my home. I love the transformation and once again I’m so impressed with the power of white paint!
To see more of this and other projects follow along on Instagram!
~ Rachel ♡
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Wow! What an amazing transformation!
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Amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do. Looks amazing. Priming would have prevented the bleed thru and less coats of paint. I used to water down paint for spraying also but water thins out the paint. Then I started using Floetrol. It doesn't thin down the paint like water but lets it flow for spraying. Something to consider it you plan to spray a lot.
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Yes priming would have definitely prevented it but it was too late by then! Thanks for the tip about that product I’ll look it up.
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