Before & After | LA Period Mid Century Modern Dresser

I love mid century furniture... there's just something about it. I've found so many different styles and types of it that it's fun to do something different then and again.
I loved the overall look of this piece when I found it. It had all its hardware (one fell off and I didn't put it back on for the before photo) and it had an awesome asymmetrical design. The biggest problem is although this is a mid century style piece it's made from some very grainy wood. It almost seemed like oak, but the matching nightstands that came with the dresser were stamped 'hardwood elm'. It also wasn't even one solid piece, the sides and top were 2.5" boards pieced together.
I stripped off the thick lacquer-like finish on the tops, sides, legs, base and the detail surrounding the drawers and then filled the gouges and dings on the tops and side of the dresser (since those areas were being painted).
I stained the legs/base and trim detail around the drawers with a dark walnut color stain. Once it cured for 24 hours I sealed all the stained portions with a satin water-based poly.


The outer frame and drawers were all primed with an oil-based primer to help the paint adhere and prevent bleed through. 2 coats were rolled on with a foam roller to the frame, and I used a spray can of the same Cover Stain primer for the drawers.
The top and sides of the piece were sprayed with my HVLP spray gun in a gloss white BM paint. It took 2 coats to get even coverage.
I wanted a little bit of a warmer color on the drawer so I used a light taupe-gray color. It's Popular Gray by SW and I sealed it with a satin water-based poly.
The hardware was polished up and it looks so nice against the new paint color.
The wood elements show off the clean lines of the piece and highlight the asymmetrical design while the warn gray color on the drawers and the glossy white on the frame combine to give this piece a unique look.
The Weathered Door
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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