A Dresser Makeover With Paint and Nail Head Trim

Pat Rios
by Pat Rios
5 Materials
$60
8 Hours
Medium
The first time a saw a painted dresser ornate with nailhead on Pinterest I became obsessed. It was a while ago, and only recently I had time to try my own version of it. It turns out it is not that hard!
Here is the before and after. I paid $30 for this old dresser on a tag sale, and it was in decent shape considering its age.
First I fixed all scratches and missing parts of the veneer with Minwax High Performance wood filler.
Next I gave it a good cleaning with TSP diluted in water, then primed it with Rustoleum Primer spray. I use gray or black primer when I'm painting dark colors.
I sprayed three coats of Marine Blue by Shabby Paints. This paint is very thick so even if you are rolling or brushing it, it's a good idea to thin it with water.
My following step was sealing the dresser with Polycrylic spray. In this project, sealing was not the last step because I wanted to apply dark wax, and wax HAS to be the last thing you apply to a piece. Trust me my friends, wax (if any) is ALWAYS last. I learned it the hard way.
To give the drawers a "vignette" frame, I applied dark was only on the edges.
Then I rubbed the dark areas using a clean rag with circular movements.
I needed about 7 yards of nailhead trim for this project. Each pack has 5 yards so I needed to buy 2 packs.
Applying the nailhead is pretty simple. Just measure, cut and attach the trim by hammering the loose tacks (included) to the little holes like this one in the picture.
I loved the original knobs so I just washed and polished them with Brasso.


That was all!
I hope this tutorial encourages you to try it. You can find more information on my blog post.


Feel free to ask me any questions!
Pat Rios
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Evelyn Vestal Evelyn Vestal on Jun 22, 2019

    What is TSP?

  • Susan Susan on Jun 23, 2019

    Love this. Very nice piece

  • Roni Freels Roni Freels on Jan 13, 2020

    I am inspired. I have a Lane chest over 100 years old. My mom stored it in her basement and the veneer came lose. I plan on doing nail heads around the lip on the lid and use Brass handles instead of the wooden ones on it. After seeing your masterpiece I am anxious to get started. You did an awesome job.

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