A Dresser in the Rough and a Question

Last week I showed you my newly organized closet.  Part of the makeover involved painting the dresser to help it fit into my colors.  My master bedroom is decorated in chocolate and gray-blue tones, and I wanted the dresser to be able to move into the bedroom if ever it needs a change of scenery.

This dresser has an interesting and sentimental history for me.  When I got my first apartment on my own, I furnished the entire 2-bedroom place for $150.  Was it cute?  Hmmm, there are no incriminating pictures that I know of, so I'd say "YES!"  But...I'd be lying.  However, my bedroom was all white shabby-chic and I did really like that room.  The dresser was $5 at a thrift store.  Yes, five bucks.  It was painted a shiny white with lots of chips, so I brought it home and did some "lazy girl" furniture refinishing: I sanded the living bejiminies out of it and called it a day.

The *only* picture I could find, taken the day before my wedding.
Wow, I loved that dress...takes me back...wait a second, we're here to see the
dresser, not the dress.  There it is!  In the distant background amidst piles of junk.

Five years later and I was living in a different town with my bestest, and getting ready to move out to live with my new husband.  I left my friend almost all of my furniture.  She kept the dresser for six more years, refinishing it in a gold and brown crackle finish to match her guest room's cozy color scheme.  But, with baby #2 on the way, she didn't need it anymore, and home it came to That Mommy.  Reunited and it feels so good...

Forgot to take a "before" until after one drawer was already primed.
Bad Mommy!

Really cute.  I love a crackle texture and once crackled an entire armoire.
And I will NEVER do it again.  It was the biggest pain, and I am way too lazy for that.

It came in the nick of time.  I knew I was about to clean up my closet, and my husband's gigantuan clothes really needed an entire dresser to themselves.  I was a little daunted by painting over the crackle finish, and for a while I hemmed and hawed over what to do.  In the end, I let my mantra "Simpler is Better" instruct me--I needed to just go with the texture rather than fighting it.  I gave it a cursory sanding to smooth out the biggest and bumpiest crackles.  Then, on to two coats of my favorite primer.

Then I painted with a foam brush and small foam roller, in two quick coats.  Finally, to play up the texture and give it a beachy, worn-out feel, I dry-brushed over the whole thing with white acrylic artist's paint.

I love the new finish so much that I painted a chair to match.

The color, by the way, is Autumn Fog by Valspar in an eggshell finish.  I went with eggshell because I wanted a worn, almost chalky finish.  The almost-matte sheen makes the most of the texture, too.  LOVE.

Now, for my question...I feel like those plain drawers are screaming for a decorative application--what should I do for them?  Botanical?  Graphic?  Paint?  Vinyl?  Please comment with your awesome ideas because I am ridonculously undecided about this.  Help!



P.S. Lovin' the Linkys at:

House of Grace