Looking at my beautiful dresser that now sits in my office and fits perfect into the space, I would have never thought it would be that simple to turn something old, trashy and just plain ugly into this beautiful piece that is now my favorite in the house.
I’m sure we all have furniture that we do not like or maybe are ready to put to the road, think again; pick a paint color and let’s give them a facelift; that’s exactly what I did. I found this piece at a local thrift store; it was this ugly pinkish color; well it wasn’t ugly, but pink isn’t my thing on furniture, if you like that style, you probably would have loved it. I did love the style of the dresser and the size, so I quickly decided “I don’t care what it looks like, I will make it look beautiful for me”.
This is what it looked like when I saw it at the shop. Not bad, like I said, not my style.
After I picked up the piece, which was very heavy btw, build solid and very well build to say the least, it was a bargain for me and will bring many years of happiness, that’s for sure. Once I got home I came across the person that sold the piece’s Facebook page and I saw a picture of what the dresser looked like before she painted it.. OMG.. I surely would have walked by the dresser, tossed it to the road or never even gave it a second look. Check out what the original dresser, before it was painted pink looked like… WOW… what a difference a coat of paint will make.
BOY, oh Boy… what do you think.. would you have picked it up? Would you have even thought it would turn into a treasure? Well.. NOW.. I know better; I will not let anything go without thinking of HOW it will look like with some paint.
The simple way to paint any wood furniture or laminate furniture is, even without sanding down anything; use ZINSER COVER STAIN Primer.. that stuff works wonders. I have used it many times over in my Bedroom makeover or any other painting I do on furniture.. and LOVE it.
So if you are thinking of painting furniture, be sure to check out ZINSSER Cover Stain primer; it will get you to a beautiful piece of furniture down the road. So simple to use and you can get it at Lowes or Home Depot. This time on my dresser I did not need to use it; the paint that was put on before was okay to be painted again, so I was able to skip this step.
I picked up a quart of Antique White paint at Lowes and a small can of brown stain so I could distress it. That’s it. Simple as that. I spend an afternoon putting a few coat of paint on the dresser to get away from all that pink and once it all dried, I took sandpaper to distress areas that I wanted to look old.
After I sanded the paint in the areas that I wanted to distress, I took an old rag and put some brown stain on the rag and rubbed it across the dresser; wiping it down after a minute or so, as I went along the dresser; the areas that I had sanded got a deeper brown stain as the white dresser, but it all blended well and looks “old” and yet new again. I also took the handles and spray painted them a glossy black; took no time at all and after they dried, I had them back on the dresser… You can finish it off with a glaze or polyurethane but since I rubbed the Wood stain over the entire dresser to make it look old (and wiped it off) it is giving it the protection that I need.
This was SOOO simple and anyone can do it. Really! it is a bit time consuming; took me about 4 hours including dry time ( we are in Florida) …That’s the story of this ugly duckling turning into a beautiful white swan.. that I adore.. what do you think??
Happy #DIY’ing… would love to hear what you turned from Trash to Treasure
Wendy says
I think I’m developing a small dresser obsession! I am looking for 2 for various projects, and I have 3 little ones in my garage waiting for me! I agree – a coat of paint and a little TLC can make such a huge difference! The sense of satisfaction after a good DIY is such a great high!
Helene Cohen Bludman says
I LOVE what you did to this dresser! I would love to find something similar, although I have never painted furniture and it probably would never look as good as yours. 😉
Barb W. says
Love it! Your home decor ideas are always inspiring! How cool that you both saw the potential in this dresser and did not discard it. I think upcycled items are the best and love how you distressed it to create an antique “feel.”
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Jennifer says
WOW I love what you did!!! That’s so great that you have that vision. I can never seem to be that creative. Nicely done. It looks awesome!!!
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Ruby Ragar says
I love projects like this and no if I had saw the original I would have never bought it!
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Virginia says
That turned out great!
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Christie says
Wow, I absolutely LOVE the distressed look! Can you come my way!? I am DIY challenged but know that I could completely transform my home with a few makeovers!
Thanks for sharing!
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Heather says
What a beautiful piece!!
We have a 35 year old dresser that is in badly need of an update.
Going to book mark this so I can go back to it when we are getting ready to start.
How long did it take you to get all the other paint off?
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Melanie a/k/a Crazy Mom says
Heather .. I never took the paint off, just painted right over it… 🙂 no reason to get it off since it wasn’t flaking or in bad shape… if it would have been I would just use the primer and sand it, to get it a nice even area to work with …hope that helps
Melanie Roberts says
Please share once you do it what the outcome was.. would LOVE to see it.. thanks for checking out my post 🙂
Daisy says
This looks fantastic! I sent the link to this post to my hubby to see if I can convince him to do something similar with me. 🙂
Melanie Roberts says
hahaha..let me know how it turns out 🙂
Jennifer B says
This looks awesome and SO much prettier than how it was before! You have inspired me to turn on old sewing box of my Moms into something special like this!
Melanie Roberts says
Thanks Jennifer… and share your finished project, would love to see the makeover of an old Sewing box, that will be amazing, I know it…
Andrea F says
Looks awesome Melanie! You did a super job. I will have to pick up a can of that primer….much easier than sandinggggg! LOL!
Melanie Roberts says
Thanks Andrea.. and YES… much easier then sanding that’s for sure.. less dust everywhere, too :-)…
Alicia Taylor says
Beautiful job! That doesn’t even look like the same piece of furniture!
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Marina says
Honestly Melanie? I’m chicken. I’m scared I will mess up a perfectly good chest of drawers if I attempt something new. Sigh!
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Melanie Roberts says
quit being a chicken… what’s the worst that can happen?? Just grab another paint and re-paint the thing… really it’s fool proof :-)… trust me…
martha says
well done!! love it. i should hit our local thrift store. i’m all about milk paint lately
Crystal C says
WOW, beautiful job!! I wish I had the time and patience. I really want to do my cabinets, but I’m nervous I’ll mess up.
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Melanie Roberts says
Crystal… it will be okay… really you can’t mess it up.. if you do, just either sand it or prime it and start over… REALLY… :0) you will do JUST fine!!
Pam says
I love turning trash into treasure. I do have an old iron bed from the 1840’s that my inlaws keep trying to “fix” for me. They don’t understand I like it that way. lol
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Danielle says
Oh that turned out great! I have never really found anything “worth” anything but I’m all about finding the practical stuff that we need at the moment.
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Giveaways 4 Mom says
I can definitely see the difference. It turned out great.
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Andrea says
Wow! It’s beautiful. You did a great job.
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Ave says
Wow, it looks amazing! What a difference! I haven’t turned anything from trash to treasure – yet! 😀
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Amy Desrosiers says
I love, love, love the outcome! This gives me hope for my similar dresser!
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martha says
came back to show my hubby your post. he’s impressed too!!
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Liz says
Melanie, that came out so beautifully! I never would have thought it possible. Crazy pretty!
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Carlee C says
That really turned out beautiful! I love the look of the dark coming through the white. I would love to do that to one of my pieces.
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Janel C says
WOW! I love it!! looks so amazing, such a transformation!
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Rhonda - YVSG says
I love the distressed look against the white paint. Fabulous job, it turned out really well. Cute how you are displaying the Fall decor. 🙂
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Liz says
I have got to try something like this. I’m honestly really inspired!
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Carmen's Coupon Blog says
I need a new dresser but I don’t want to buy a brand new one.. and this is a neat way to bring a new look to a used dresser.. I am going garage sale hunting tomorrow anyways.. so now I have an excuse to shop for a new dresser..
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Robyn says
Wow, I can’t believe you accomplished this! AMAZING!
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Cynthia L says
I love a good trash to treasure story! This dresser is great and although I have heard of Zinsser before, I have never tried it. I have an old dresser in the basement and I might have to give this arty!
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Malia says
wow! it looks great! I love the distressed look
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April Yedinak says
I love it!!
Susi says
Love it. I have a few pieces of furniture I’d like to paint and now I know what to use!!! 🙂
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rebecca boster says
I love diy,, it saves so much money. but usually it is hard to make it look professional. your diy makeover looks gorgeous!!!
Bekki
Mariana says
That turned out amazing! It fits right in… and looks expensive!
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Tough Cookie Mommy says
This looks great. I have so many pieces of furniture that could use to be brought back to life in this way.
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Motherhood on the Rocks says
That is beautiful! Love the antique look!
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Debi says
You did a really great job. I love it.
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janetfaye says
What a difference! You made it look beautiful.
I have never even thought of painting furniture but I will think of trying it.