May 5 2021

Texture Plus Dark Color Equals Wow Furniture

Wallpaper 5 drawer Dresser Coastal Blue Painted

Textured paintable wallpaper or lots of added paper clay detail make stunning appearances when painted in dark color. Even using flat sheen top coat these details shimmer and shine. I learned this on a buffet last year. No added glimmer product. It’s straight up GF Lamp Black with Flat HPTC.

I’ve used the black over detail technique since then but not on the entire face of a dresser nor on textured wallpaper. If the technique holds true, it should work on this big heavy blank box of a dresser. So much real estate on these 5 massive drawers and I’ve never seen wide side trim pieces like this either.

Prep Process

Like trying on clothes in the dressing room, here I’m trying on handles and paper clay details before final paint. So far so good except center handles do not feel right. I decided to go with knobs instead. I feel it balances out the dresser better.

The first stroke with painted brush reveals an awesome reverse image of pattern. The wallpaper is Brewster Alfred Paintable Supaglypta Wallpaper from Walmart. It’s not cheap but it’s exactly what I went looking for: large pattern for large space and feminine but not too girly.

End Result

It took 4 coats GF Coastal Blue Milk Paint to develop a midnight blue solid color. This piece consumed the entire pint! Whites and darks can be expected to take more than 2 applications to develop. Medium colors like Persian Blue or Perfect Gray don’t need so many. Though it drives me bonkers to apply more than 2 coats, the result is worth it. What do you think?