Cottage White Dresser Makeover
Giving a dated and damaged antique dresser a fresh and charming cottage update with white paint and vintage inspired cup pulls plus an exclusive coupon code to update your cabinet or dresser with new hardware
Updated 7/2022
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This post is long overdue! I finished this painted dresser back in late fall, and have actually shared this dresser several times on my Instagram feed. (I share a lot of sneak peeks on Instagram, and little areas of my home that haven't made it to the blog...my stories are more 'real life' snippets! I'd love to have you follow me!)
Thrifted dresser in need of TLC
This dresser started life as a very dark and damaged piece that I discovered at a thrift store in Florida. I held off on doing anything to it for about 10 years...simply because I didn't know quite how to tackle it. I really loved the vintage floral decals on it and wanted to try to preserve them (see circled areas below).
So the dresser sat...untouched. The poly on it appeared melted in places, and the whole dresser was losing peeling chunks of veneer. The trim detail around the drawers was missing large pieces as well. I really wonder if it went through a fire at some point in its life.
After we finished our sunroom makeover, I realized that the dresser would look amazing in that space, painted white. I decided I would need to paint over those decals to really give the piece the love it needed and while I was sad to do that, I haven't missed them at all because this dresser has so much cottage charm now!
I had a brand new HomeRight paint sprayer sitting in my garage, just waiting to make its first appearance!
So with a plan in place, I set out to tackle this dark beast and turn it into a cottage beauty.
This was no easy task! It took several days of prep before the piece was even ready for paint. And, I made a crucial error due to my own laziness and impatience...but read on because I share it all below.
Supplies
- white chalk paint (thinned according to directions on paint sprayer)
- paint sprayer (I used the HomeRight Super Finish Max)
- spray shelter (highly recommended)
- large canvas drop cloth
- hand sander
- coarse grit sandpaper (240 grit)
- DAP paintable wood filler and scraper tool
- my favorite degreaser
- tack cloth
- protective face mask and goggles
- Zinsser oil based primer
- Oxford antique cup pulls and matching knobs
Repairing and Painting a Damaged Dresser
I started this dresser makeover where you should always start...a good
cleaning!
I wiped it down with the degreaser and allowed it to dry before moving on.
Once the wood filler dried, I sanded it smooth, wiped it down and the dresser
was ready for paint....or so I thought...Mr DIY helped me set up the large
spray shelter on our back patio.
I followed the directions on the HomeRight Super Finish Max, watering my paint
down, and then sprayed the dresser.
I love how fast it is to paint with a sprayer!
And here is where I goofed.
And here is where I goofed.
...the tannins in dark furniture have a nasty tendency to bleed
through!
What are tannins?
Tannins are the stains that bleed through many species of dark wood.
Have you ever painted a piece of furniture, let it dry, and was shocked to see
it had turned red or orange or even pink in spots? Those are the tannins
bleeding through...and they can be very resistant to paint! You can paint
several coats and they'll come right through all of them!
In fact, I've read that the paint actually draws tannins to the surface.
So what's the solution?
The solution to nixing tannins and the dreaded bleed-through is to seal them.
It's actually pretty simple.
I recommend an oil-based primer like the one in the supplies list above
because water-based ones just don't work as well for stubborn stains!
If you don't want to deal with a messy brush, oil-based primers are available
in
spray cans!
So clearly I skipped this step and wasted not only time but my precious chalk
paint! Don't do what I did...seal your dark wood piece
before you attempt to paint it! Or try painting just one drawer and see
what happens before painting the entire thing.
Let's take a little look at what happened on the drawers here. See the top two
drawers? How ineffective my white paint was? And this is after two coats!
I ended up having to run out and buy a can of Zinsser oil-based primer and
hand brushed it on the entire dresser...two coats! It actually went pretty
fast because the chalk paint that I had sprayed on the dresser acted as a
primer as far as covering the dark wood.
The oil-based primer did an amazing job of covering up the reddish stains and
I have seen absolutely no bleed through since! And the dresser looked so good
that I didn't even need to paint another coat of chalk paint on top, I
just left it as is!
Helpful Recap: when you're painting a dark piece of furniture, always apply a spray or brush on oil based primer first, to block any tannin stains from bleeding through. Then, go ahead and paint your piece. The bonus is that the actual painting will go very quickly and you may even need to use fewer coats of paint in the long run!
You've already seen the results and know that this damaged dresser was restore
to a thing of beauty but let's take a closer look at the finished dresser in
all its white cottage glory!
She's a knockout, isn't she?
The white really highlights all the pretty curves of this piece. And even
though you can see the bits of trim that are missing if you look hard, I think
it adds to the cottage charm of this very old piece, don't you think?
The
vintage-looking hardware
in the oil-rubbed bronze is the perfect finish don't you think?!
Coupon Code
You've probably got a dresser or cabinets that could benefit with the
upgrade that new hardware gives! Please using my coupon code DIYB10 to save on
any hardware or accessories at Hickory Hardware!
Hopefully I've helped you to overlook the damage to some of these vintage
treasures and see how beautiful they can be with a little TLC and paint!
Pin it to remember and support my site!
Disclosure: I received a Home Right Super Finish Max paint sprayer and
shelter in exchange for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.
Beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing your advice and the experience you had redoing this gorgeous piece of furniture!!
ReplyDeleteThank youso much! I'm always happy to share my blunders because I'm learning along the way too!
DeleteThis looks wonderful. Thanks for the info on the paint process.
ReplyDeleteThank you Di, I really appreciate that!
DeleteWhat a gorgeous piece of furniture it is now! AND I love the display of items on top as well as the wreath on the front.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pepper, I really appreciate that!
DeleteMakeover looks amazing, you really made it look like a brand new dresser!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Sean!
DeleteThis one came out GORGEOUS!!!! :} Love the tips too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandra!
DeleteWhich white chalk paint (color) did you use?
ReplyDeleteHey friend! What a great find. Beautiful job painting it and thanks for the tip on tannins and bleed through. That has happened to me more times than I'd like to recall. pinned
ReplyDeleteThanks Cindy, yes it's one of my favorite pieces now! Ugh, I always seem to forget that dark woods will bleed, painted so many coats on so many things lol!
DeleteYou took a beast and turned it into a beauty! Great job
ReplyDeleteThanks, yes it was truly a beast lol!
Delete