Original Queen Anne vintage , art deco, or waterfall dresser, (whatever you want to name it), has seen better days. The top is stained and marked up badly. The yellow trim – yuck! But, it has so much character, I’m nervous about painting it. I want to paint up to its potential. Thanks to Debbie at Westside Furniture for saving it to let me paint it!
These photo’s don’t do the piece justice. Proper lighting and back drop is crucial for getting the best furniture photo shoot – for now it’s my front porch.
Plain white trim and gray body is terrific on the inspiration piece but this big ol’ 5 drawer dresser looked bland without some embellishing. Lightly glazed with zinc color glaze over silver highlights, spruced this up so the detail pops a little more.
Used:
Clean with Krud Kutter – you should have seen the yellow goo that came off, then oil base primer.
General Finishes Seagull Gray base coat on body
White on top and skirt including drawer outline details
Light highlights using Silver Rub N Buff
Grunged a little with zinc glaze – a mix of black and silver.
Styling a furniture makeover for quick sale is a narrow path, so I drew inspiration from a very similar waterfall dresser and popular Manatee Gray and White Fluff chic style.
I’m planning to do a couple of add-on styling just because I can:
Add white stripes on the sides,
Add a paper clay keyhole on the top drawer and
Add white dry brushing to soften the color blocking.
Note: In an unbelievable stroke of awesomeness in my paint inventory, a miss-tint quart of Sherwin Latex I bought last summer is a perfect match to Dixie Belle Manatee Gray! I did a boogie dance for a minute. For a little less than $4.00 per batch, my home-made paint is ALMOST as good as $30.00 professional chalk paint. For that kind of savings, I can work around the differences. To learn more about making your own chalk paint, go to my next post – Making Chalk Paint
Here’s How Mine Turned Out
Last minute add-on is stenciling on the drawer sides for a little extra bling. If you like this piece, it still may be available.
Found at an estate sale last summer, this dresser didn’t scream Black Folk Americana to me. In fact, it didn’t tell me anything. It sat on my porch for 6 months quietly and simply, waiting for its makeover time.
In the meantime, I’ve seen more black heavily distressed furniture emerge in shops and online. I liked the ones without detail and with rich looking wood. It spoke folk to me. Quaker, shaker, early American. I can do this!
Inspiration Piece
My Process
My dresser was painted with my stand by Lamp Black paint from General Finishes. It goes on so smooth and covered in two coats. No priming for wood-stain bleed through since it’s black. It wouldn’t show if there was any. I didn’t use a paint brush but a 4″ roller. I wanted a smoother than smooth finish in the end – but choosing the right topcoat lead to some problems.
The finish was worth fighting for but I got it. Buttery smooth, matte sheen and as defect free as a black piece could ever be. It is also the most durable paint job known to man-kind since the under-finish is tung oil. That is a story in itself. Watch for a post VERY SOON on my personal battles with top coating black painted pieces.
For an up close personal inspection and a chance to buy it here.
A forlorn washing stand, bound for the burn pile, recovered to beautiful white-washed farm room dresser. Removing the veneer from the doors provided the re-style inspiration.
$5 at auction
roached up top
almost unusable doors
Fix the doors first
Actually, I tossed the doors in the trash first! I’ve seen many of these wash dressers with missing doors, replaced with two cool baskets instead. Yeah, maybe too many. An initial search for right sized baskets bombed out. Good thing I could still fetch those doors from the trash. I succumbed to the chore of removing the veneer rather than repairing it. Way too much missing to fill and sand.
I had no re-style plan in mind before starting this project. It was an uncomfortable wait for an inspiration.
Removing the Veneer
The YouTube video’s I watched made the process look so darn simple, but this veneer was stubborn. The first technique used was the heat-gun method. The adhesive should soften with the heat and bubble up. Chip, chip, chip. No big strips were detaching. This age old adhesive was not giving up at all. At this rate, it would be weeks and accidental digs into the top base.
Second, I tried wet towel and hot iron method. I burned the iron instead and the veneer moved, bubbled and detached NOT. Dang this should have worked.
Lastly, I wetted a terry cloth towel and soaked the veneer for a few hours by sandwiching it between the two door faces. Added heat from the heat gun and finally, satisfying strips of veneer separated.
What lay under the veneer were light colored rough and raw assembled doors, as farm housy as could be. There is my inspiration.
Make finished wood be unfinished
With haste and courage, I reached for the big-girl belt sander. The belt was switched for the largest grit sandpaper on hand – 60. Using the full weight of the sander, I laid into each surface taking off a measurable layer of wood, maybe even .030 inch.
Though I was going for a complete surface of raw blonde wood, without stain or varnish, I stopped in time to appreciate the dark blotches that remained.
Watery white paint, a dry brush, and flat poly
Top after sanding and white wash
Watered down shite chalk paint brushed completely over all surfaces. It soaked into the wood providing no opportunity for wiping or rubbing. It gave a transparent white hazy appearance. I love how it did exactly what I wanted – which never ever happens.
Using regular undiluted chalk paint, a dry brush technique provided a bit more farm house styling and contrast with the dark blotches.
Knob choices
Choosing knobs for a pieces is a lot like staring in ones closet, figuring out what piece goes with the other. Something I am not good at. I’ve said for years the designer that makes ‘Gar-animals’ for adults has all my business!
After consulting with paint friend Sue, we settled on mercury bling on the top drawer and two crackle painted smaller knobs on the bottom. I’m still not convinced these knobs are the best for this piece. Looking at it again, perhaps some metal brackets or straps might give it the old ice box look.
There are no right or wrong knob and handle selections but there is bland.
For sale at Antique Mercantile, Jackson MI
This is a great addition as a mini buffet or wine bar in a dining room, even a TV stand. It’s got great look and great storage.
I’m more than excited for this painted furniture project that turned two orphaned pieces into a western chic antique. Must have been divine intervention to come across a barn find Chevelle mirror and matching sized garage sale dresser within a few short weeks of each other. Both pieces were in terrible shape and possible bon fire bound.
Before Makeover
After soap and water wipe down to get the cobwebs and dirt off, I fixed the peeling veneer. It didn’t take as long as I thought. Yay! Maybe because I worked outside with the radio on. That’s the best.
I prime everything with oil base primer. I’ve learned from experience to never trust tannin. This is both an unpleasant and exciting step. Oil base primer is goopy to work with but when finished, it looks more like a piece on-the-move towards a new life.
Crackled Paint
I wanted to keep the crackled patina produced by natural aging and abuse. I left it in place and painted over it plus I added more using spots of crackling media. Existing cracks came through just fine. Adding cracks wasn’t easy to get the affect I wanted – small thin ones, but that which I got was acceptable. The base color is taupe, something neutral and soft but dark enough for some contrast. I ended up dry brushing over the top after crackling to soften the affect.
Fun With Embellishments
Wide drawers with lots of space between the handles is an open invitation for stenciling. I used the same taupe as the pre-cracked base. For a french chic style, wide drawers like this are perfect for some kind of french script but . . . going for a western style, I stole these graphic designs from the same stencil.
My painting bff told me about using paper clay and molds (check out Iron Orchid Designs website to learn how) to make cool fake carvings. The key hole is one then at the bottom of the dresser was a perfect spot for a medallion. It’s not expensive but I learned to make them at least a half day ahead of time to let them half dry before glueing them in place. I got great advice to not wait until they dry completely and become stiff.
The top wood carving is glazed and distressed by wet cloth and sand paper.
Hardware Makes Western Chic Style
Not until it was time to choose the hardware did this makeover turn cowgirl western. In my knob and handle sample inventory, (the place I collect my favorites), I grabbed these rusty cast iron flower knobs to try on. Yeah, just like in the bedroom piecing together clothes. I put these knobs on and I looked no further. Thank goodness there were matching handles I could buy.
Now this makeover is called “The Cheyenne”: Cowgirl Western Chic. I happened to have this 48 star vintage US Flag in the booth. They look great together. Is it 1865?
Sometimes I feel alone in my passion for painting beat up mid century modern dressers.
I’m always inspecting what other painters are doing. Of course, we do what sells. If a piece is white or gray, has some distressing, knob bling, maybe a chic stencil, and some dark wax antiquing effect, it sells fast. I really like that shabby chic style too but, my tendency is toward these mid century pieces that I had in my bedroom growing up.
There is a way to make shabby chic and mid century modern work together.
Using Neutral Color and Fancy Knobs
I chose neutral color to help blend shabby chic style with Mid Century Modern. The body is Sherwin William Samovar Silver. I love it because it can fit into gray category or it can switch to looking blue depending on the room it’s placed. Otherwise, MCM colors are bright like orange, red, and mint.
Modern to me invites geometric shapes so I featured the top drawer with metallic silver diamonds and the glass knobs. That part is not shabby chic! Yeah I should have thought ahead to make the points line up with the knob wholes. I used math to make the shapes equivalent without considering where the holes were placed.
Choosing the knobs is another way of blending shabby chic into an MCM makeover. Glass and mercury knobs seem to be popular in shabby chic styling now. It works for this piece!
The white base paint on the top drawer is top coated before applying the silver diamonds. I wasn’t happy with the way the silver turned out so I took a sanding block to it just for grins. It took on a cool affect of spreading some of the silver color to the peaks of the base brush strokes.
Used Frog Tape and metallic silver paint. Got a speckled affect using a sanding block.
The best part of buying an old mid century modern cast away is the original drawer handles. Check out these sleek ones. They have been sprayed with silver metallic paint. They remind me of the Jetson’s.
Original handles on Mid Century Modern Dresser sprayed metallic silver.
Finally a piece that would be perfect to paint using ballerina pink! It’s the softest shade of pink but full of body from touches of brown pigment. This 2-drawer shabby chic gem belongs in every girls bedroom. Girls especially like the two tiny drawer space on top for hair clips, headbands, and other favorite things. The drawers and drawer sides are lined with pages from a vintage early 50’s magazine. It is very exciting when two estate sale discoveries come together for a super cool design.
Painting this was one of the simplest yet, now that I’ve learned to shellac before prime. The shellac step produces a stainless clean paint color as does the prime step. No short cuts for me. As it is sanded for distressing I reminded myself that less is more and only the natural wear spots.
A center piece in the middle and a mirror on the wall finishes the vignette.
