Monday, January 31, 2011

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:
HOG
House of Grace

5 comments:

  1. Hi, Michelle - Keep your mantra in mind....
    Simpler is Better......... what about just adding simple drawer pulls?

    Just an idea!
    Have a great day!

    Hugs ~~ Suz
    inspiringcreativeness.blogspot

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  2. Looks great! I'm with Suz--new hardware for sure. ;-)
    abby

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  3. Hmmmm....hardware seems a little labor intensive, plus you wouldn't want to have to slide by them in the closet.

    How about some faint colored scrolls?

    I'm so inspired by your repurposeing! Makes me want to hit some yard sales or estate sales. Never done that before, you might have to give me some pointers!

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  4. Looks great! Autumn fog is a great color!

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  5. When I first saw the title and the pic of your gown, I thought you were going to purge that as well....you haven't, have you?!

    I like the idea of 'simple' pulls too!!

    ReplyDelete

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