Turquoise Painted Dressers

Now, I do love white furniture, I think you all know that, but I also love how Cassie at Primitive & Proper makes old furniture look great with color.  Especially this turquoise-y color.  Here are two of her recent projects, cause I love them both:


Becky was looking for a dresser that could be used as a changing table for her baby (Coming January '11!). I had just picked up this guy from craigslist for $30... including the fantastic huge mirror which will be painted at some other time.

Becky send me some pictures of the decorative accents that would be in the room- lots of fun and playful colors. We settled on "Reflecting Pool" by Sherwin Williams. I got right to work, painting, distressing, and antiquing, and here is the dresser for Becky's bean!




And yes, I know I promised how-to's. My little one goes back to preschool next week and I will have more time. I feel like I need to really concentrate and out everything into those types of posts, rather than just showing you some fun pictures like I am now! So it's a-comin'. Good things come to those who wait!


Project two:


Anyhow...I picked up this dresser earlier this week, and it was clear to see this one had been around for a bit.

It had watermarks along the bottom from an evident flood, and needed some serius cleaning. I used some bleach inside the drawers, and then sprinkled baking soda in each of the drawers and let it sit overnight. Then I dusted out most of the baking soda, and wiped the insides of the drawers down with vinegar and water. Since it was already a little rough around the edges, I went with a more distressed finish. It was missing a pull, so I filled holes in the top and made the top two drawers knob-ready. I sanded it, primed it, and painted it with "Reflecting Pool" by Sherwin Williams. 


I generally prefer the lightly distressed finish, which I do by hand. In the case of this dresser, I decided to really rough it up. By hand that would have taken forever and I may have passed out due to exhaustion, so I decided to put my orbital sander to use. I sanded it all over the edges, curves, and then gave it a general once over to expose the primer in spots. Then I used Minwax Golden Oak stain and wiped on lightly with a rag, replaced the pulls and added very dark red Anthropologie knobs. And here it is now! All roughed up and ready to go!

Isn't it just great how it looks in color?

I think she has mad skills!