Antique Dresser Makeover

When a friend asked me to take a look at an old dresser, I didn't know what to expect. She told me it had been sitting in her basement for years and wondered if it had any potential. Upon entering the basement, I couldn't wait to get my hands [and paintbrush] on the dresser! There was so much potential!

If an antique piece is in great shape, I might feel guilty about painting on beautiful wood. The wood was beautiful, but there were some places that weren't in good shape...so I didn't feel so bad. Plus, it's what the customer wanted!

The dresser also needed some work--drawers weren't properly supported on the inside, trim was falling off and there was a missing trim piece on the bottom. Nothing alittle wood glue and a nail gun couldn't fix.

The customer wanted 'light distressing' and asked if there might be a way to make the carved flower detail stand out. She also wanted a light gray color and wanted new hardware, as the old hardware wasn't big enough for heavy drawers and pulls were missing.

The Result:

I absolutely LOVE the finished product! A light gray (Essential Gray from Sherwin Williams) was chosen and then I made my own chalk paint. I used some homemade white chalk paint to highlight the flower detail (under the mirror), as well as the notched carvings on the sides of the drawers, which is hard to see in the above photo.

All four sides of the drawers had notched carvings, but I chose to do the vertical ones in white so that it (a) wouldn't break up the dresser, and (b) it would tie into the vertical notches on both sides of the flower detail. Another favorite part....the spindles!

The before and after of the flower detail. 

Some of the distressing details.

After adding some new hardware, she was ready to leave the dark corner of the basement and take up residence in the guest bedroom!

*I love doing custom pieces, so if you've got something that's collecting dust or you don't think it has potential, I'd love to take a look at it! I can either bring new life to a piece in your home, or if you'd rather get rid of it, I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands!