I have been painting up a storm this week and it’s been a blast. I love playing with new products and I’ve recently discovered some amazing ones that I can’t wait to share with you. One of the best things about experimenting is that I have to experiment on my own stuff, so I don’t mess up pieces I need to sell…right? Sounds good to me. So, I’ve been painting a bunch of pieces that have been on my list for a while and I’ve been really inspired.
Here’s what the dresser looked like before. It was a nice piece off Craig’s List, but it just didn’t look that special in the room. I really wanted to add a color that would compliment the red drapes and a greenish blue was perfect.
The way this piece distressed is so yummy. It may be too far for some people, but I just love the chippy, scratched look.
Since the wood in this piece is so pretty, I decided to leave the top natural. I also just prefer a wood top to a painted one.
I swapped out the heavy wood knobs for glass to add a little sparkle.
More details to come…
After enduring rain (cats and dogs) since Wednesday, we have a beautiful sunny day and I’m going to go play outside with my boys.
89 Responses
This looks gorgeous! I love that you left the top natural, and the vignette you created is perfect!
~Amanda
Oh my! What a fan-stinkin-tastic blog you have!!! Why I haven't been over here before, I don't know. But, I'm now a follower, and can't wait to look through all of your stuff 😀
And this dresser, are you kidding me?! I just want to snuggle up to it and never let go!
I'd love for you to stop by my blog some time!
http://www.westermanfam.blogspot.com
Shelley
I've had something like this in mind for my husbands dresser forever! I can't wait to learn more about it! beautiful!~Merrilee
LOVE it!!!! Love the color ~ can't wait for more details!
Amazing! and I swear this is so wierd…I cam home from work last weekend, to this SAME dresser…my hubby picked it up from a yard sale to surprize me…I have painted and distressed it almost the same color…Crazy! BTW You rock…I absolutley love your work!
Absolutely beautiful transformation!
I love this piece of furniture and the new finish is fabulous.
http://aileent-homesweethome.blogspot.com
SO gorgeous! Can you please come and redecorate my entire house? Every time I see something new on here I want to do it too 🙂
Wow..you can never go wrong with that colour! I love that you left the top wood!..Looks fabulous!
p.s. we have no sun today!
It's fabulous!
Looks GREAT!….smiles.
I've got to hand it to you, Marian… you are gutsy! I love painted furniture, but when a piece starts out with beautiful wood like this one did, I'm afraid to paint it. Glad you don't have the same fear. It looks great!
Hopefully the more details to come will be how you achieved the scratched, worn effect? It looks great and definitely has the right amount of chippiness. Love the color and that you left the top dark. Beautiful.
Love the finish. The paint makes the beautiful lines of the piece more obvious.
The dresser looks gorgeous!! I too love it when a painted piece looks worn. Great Job, Martina
It looks great! I would love to hear how you did it, and what products you used.
Gorgeous! You are so talented and just inspire me. I love the old chippy worn look too.
Not only is the dresser beautiful I love the glass knobs you used.
Dee
i cant believe that was a craigslist find!!! That's awesome!! I love the curves of it! And I totally agree with your choice to leave the top natural. Brilliant!! <3
Looks good! I am not a huge fan of a lot of distressing but I know you like it =)
We just got back in from playing outside!! It's so nice out!
awwww I love the curviness of the piece. That paint job just looks like it's led such a long interesting life & some kids got to it with a pen. The knobs just get lost to me & I love crystal knobs, so maybe some anthro inspired colored ones or something just a lil teensy bit more punchy. but thats just my opinion hehe
Beautiful Marion! You always know how to make a dresser sing:) I have a similar dresser that my husband stripped (ever so lovingly…it took weeks!) about 13 years ago. Now I want to paint it, but Im afraid he will just die. ha ha. He will be fine, of course. Will let you know how it turns out! Enjoy your sunshine & boys. The cats and dogs are falling from the sky here. Going to curl up with my "little" girl for a movie marathon!
*Jodi*
Great job! so are you gunna tell us the color you used??
Natalie
Yummy is right. The more distressed the better, but you are right it may be too much for some people.
I love it.
Caroline
beautiful…I love it. I'm all about painting stuff. I have to tell you however, my husband really 'hates' (strong word) when women paint wood furniture, so I thought I'd show him your blog. I thought he was going to die! His eyes got really big when he saw the before dresser…he was gasping for breath and walked away. I laughed! I'm trying to talk him into doing our new cupboards in our house restoration like your dresser…it is not an easy task to be the neck (my big fat greek weddiing) in the relationship!
I love it in all it's distressed scratchy perfectness. The color is beautiful!
It's gorgeous! The color is beautiful! ENjoy the sun!
XO
Kristin
In my eyes, it couldn't be more perfect!!
Barb
Gorgeous color and treatment! Of course, it helps to have a dresser with wonderful lines like that one.
Oh I just love it!! It's so pretty and perfect?
LOVE it!!! Did you use flat paint for this one? It really is beautiful. 🙂
shaunna
I love it! So pretty!
Kate @ welcomedtempest.blogspot.com
PS- Thanks for the comment on my post about my Papa Bear!
You ROCK! I think its perfect!!! Love the distressing and the top left as the orignal wood.
looks like milk paint? love it!!
LOVE.IT. 🙂
I love how this turned out, it looks great!
We have some great weather today to after a week of rain and a dusting of snow. I hope you enjoy the day with your family.
Penny
Oh my, that is so pretty, especially with the glass knobs. I am just as enthralled with the lovely styling in that photo. You have such a touch, Marian! And because I look at everything, I have to say that the simple door trim around that closet door is enchanting. That is exactly what I am going to do in our little townhouse!
I love it! Now, I can't wait to see your technique.
hugs
Sissie
LOVE it… really I do. I am going to paint some more furniture today and You just gave me an Idea!! Thanks,
Cherie
Come on over and check out my little blog.
http://dragonfliezcreationz.blogspot.com
Ba-chicka-bow-bow Ohhhhh Yeeeaaaah (or however that song goes). It's beautiful, Marian. I typically don't like a heavy distressing but as usual, you make me love it. The contrast is gorgeous. Love the color.
Hugs,
Jami
Very nice!
I like that the top is left unpainted — especially if you're going bananas with the distressing. When the top is painted like that too it starts to stress me out for some reason. lol
love the color!
The distressing on this piece looks so authentic – you are a master! Would you consider a video of you actually doing that part? It's the most scary part to do for me, anyway. Will you sell this one or hang onto it?
It's just right- i hate when a piece looks too perfectly "distressed"! This one looks like it's been around awhile, and actually lived through some action. And I like that the top still shows the beauty of the original wood. Good work, indeed!
Love the look of this dresser so much that you have inspired me to paint a small dresser I have. I am going to try and distress it like yours and hope it turns out..love it and your blog..your mighty talented girlie!
I love the greeny blue of this dresser and the glass knobs. I have a question – do you ever save the original knobs, if any, in case you decide to change them out or sell a piece? Just wondering? Have a great day! Pamela
oh.my.goodness. that is jaw dropping gorgeous. love the curvy lines of the dresser.
judi
that is so pretty! love everything about it!
~Meg
Love It!
At first I gasped at the beauty of the original piece….you gotta know…that I love paint on everything….so it took me a few moments….but i LOVE what you did and wouldn't hesitate to do something like that.
What a wonderful beauty pause your blog is!
xoxo lylah
Oh I love it!! That color is perfect!! Vanna
Wow! It's really beautiful! I love it! And the vignette is very pretty too.
This dresser turned out GREAT! Love the color. And I like the top left natural. Love & blessings from NC!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! No way is it too chippy. I think it's the perfect amount of chippy! And how fortunate for you that you HAD to practice this new technique on your own piece 😉 Did I mention I LOVE it?
That is one of the prettiest peices I have seen refinished. I love it..
LOVE the uneven finish. It's so realistic! But I'm with the others I'm afraid. We would devour more details. 🙂
Donna
I have to tell you, I'm not crafty or creative in the least bit, but I seriously love EVERYTHING you do. You have such an amazing talent! Love your work and blog!
Best,
Hannah
http://nannersh2.blogspot.com
Okay, I think this is my new favorite piece of yours! And it is most definitely NOT too distressed. It is perfect. I love this look and you are so talented to pull it off so perfectly.
I can't wait for the details! I love the color and the glass knobs, but have a hard time painting over good wood, but love the results when I see it done.
The painted dresser is fabulous!! Well done!!
It is so beautiful!
Hugs
SueAnn
Hope you had a fabulous day with your boys! The dresser is beatiful. You truly do have an amazing gift and vision … thanks for sharing with all of us, Becca
http://www.adventuresindecorating1.blogspot.com
*** Oh, do I L*O*V*E this!!! It's SOOOOO PERFECTLY DISTRESSED~ wish I could find something like that!!! (I'm NOT talented enough to "do" that myself, darn it!!!
I SOOO love visiting you!!!
Warmest wishes as alaways,
Linda in AZ*
bellesmom1234@comcast.net
I love that chippy look! Will you be doing a tutorial on how to get that look? Your tutorial are so awesome!
Nancy
That looks so beautiful!! My goal is to find a lovely piece to redo this week. Thank you for the inspiration!
Gorgeous!!!! How do you get that chippy look????? I would love to know….Thanks!
Love it! I did a very similar piece a while ago
http://btweenblueandyellow.blogspot.com/2010/10/petite-dresser.html
I'd love to watch you in action…if just for a day….beautiful piece!!
That green with the red showing through – wonderful.
– Joy
I thought your before pic was the adorable blue, and I couldn't figure out for the life of me why you would change it! 🙂 Looks so sweet!!!
I LOVE this!!! I love the color, the knobs and that you left the top brown!!!
Audrey @ adaywithadomesticengineer.blogspot.com
It's lovely!
Brava Marian…..another masterpiece. I painted a piece in that same shade and I love it. While I appreciate the cottage white and gray love out there, it warms my heart to see that the use of color is not dead. Thank you for demonstrating that once again! The contrast and distressing is dare I say……..Perfectly imperfect…:)
Simply Stunning! I love the heavily distressed look and the color is amazing.
Not to far for me. I love it. The more distressed the better I say.
Rebecca
**sigh** I'm in love.
Will you be doing a tutorial on how you distress furniture – this piece looks great – great job!
Love the color of this piece!
Cannot wait to see how you did this!! LOVE your blog and cherish every tutorial or advice!
It looks so inviting. I love the very, chippy scratched look, it looks like it has been around for a long time and has some good stories to tell. Can't wait to hear about what new products you discovered!
Very nice. Love that look. And the glass knobs set it off just right.
thanks for you feedback! I'm thinking this weekend, I may tackle my armoire project. I'll post after pictures and let you know how it turns out. I, too, am interested in finding out what new paint your using. I plan on using red milk paint.
Wow! Love this – is this also done in this amazing paint ur on about? Do you have to prime with this mystery paint? Doesn't look like you did on this piece. So since I hate to prime you have to tell us what kind of paint this is. I love it – amazing. I love the natural wood top too. Painted tops always get so messed up.
Beautiful, I am totally in love with the whole paint then distress look. It puts a whole new look onto the piece. I am eager to try it out. As a I am a newbe to furniture refurbishing, do you recommend it try this technique with a chair first. Thanks so much. I just love reading your blog, it is so inspiring and gets my mind running!
I tend to shy away from so much distressing but this looks great! Maybe on my next piece I'll find more courage. Did you only paint one coat?
-Bethanie
wow! gorgeous!!!!
Looking all over you blog for the name of the color you used on this dresser. Could you tell me? I love it!
where do I find your tutorials for chalk painting furniture on your blog?
I love this piece so much. Did you use milk paint? I would love to know the process you used so I can attempt to recreate this look.