The dresser with attitude is finally finished and photographed!
As a recap – this is what it looked like before…
…this is what it looked like during (aka – the ugly stage)…
…and here she is all finished!
You can read about how I dealt with the bleed through HERE and the striping technique HERE. And if you’re the sort who is still aghast at me painting a piece of wood furniture, you can read my thoughts on the subject HERE.
This piece is a great example of how you never know what to expect when you work on a piece of furniture. Sometimes everything goes as planned and sometimes it doesn’t. This piece gave me lots of attitude and pushed me into the design she ended up with. I love all of her imperfections and quirks…a declaration to the world that she was painted by hand, not a machine and that she is one of a kind.
I gave this piece a very light distressing on the edges, because there was already so much texture and variation going on that it just didn’t need much. I also didn’t want to expose too much of the orangey-red wood.
The stripes were my way to camouflage the trim pieces that didn’t make a lot of design sense to me.
The “tortoise shell” knobs are from Hobby Lobby.
I originally thought this dresser was masculine, given the fact that it’s a highboy and has linear designs on the drawers and sides, but then I looked at the legs. Yep. This is a girl. She may not be frilly, fussy or froo-froo, but she’s got curvy legs.
I’ve enjoyed using my boots lately as a prop in some photos. My husband bought them for me for Christmas last year and they are from LL Bean.
All of the trophies and silver on top are from antique stores.
I was smitten with these cash register numbers when I found them.
The dresser was painted in MMSMP Trophy, which will be available to customers in November. You can find the retailer closest to you HERE or an online retailer HERE. I finished it off with two coats of Hemp Oil, which is also available with my milk paint line.
Now I need to work on her sisters. I hope they are a bit more compliant!
By the way, MMSMP has arrived in Northern Ireland at Homeart! So exciting!
I just got my passport a couple of weeks ago, so I can plan some international trips. I also can’t wait to see a pin on the map in Australia. We have a distributor there, but it’s going to take a bit of time to get the paint from Canada to Australia and then to the retailers in Australia and New Zealand. If you’re in that neck of the woods and would like to sell the paint, just send me an e-mail and I’ll put you in touch with our distributor.
Lastly, congrats to Teri (teribroberg) and Dana, winners of the $50 Antique Farmhouse Giveaway!
62 Responses
Love, love, love it! I think it was nice before, but you’re right, the bottom drawer definately looked like it didn’t belong! I love the way you decroated the top!!! One of these days I’m going to give your milk paint a try!!!!
What a lovely blog and so informative. Thank you for sharing it. Please feel free to visit my blog.
Sarah
I love the dresser and the photography. WONDERFUL! The striping makes a fabulous grain sack effect.
totally in love with this one, marian! it’s amazing. 🙂
WOW!!! Absolutely stunning. I love the fact that it is a little masculine, great for a boys bedroom or just a space with white walls.
Perfect! Gray is such a perfect neutral to put together with some of your brighter colors. Can’t wait to try it. 🙂 Also, I’m pretty sure I took a picture of those awesome boots when you visited NW Arkansas last year. Is that weird…?? LOL!
this piece speaks to me. I just love it.. like a cozy flannel shirt.. Gorgeous with the trophies. must get this color!! marcy
Another winner! Love the name, love the color, love the way the dresser turned out.
I think the stripes are what sold me 🙂 of course your staging is flawless.
I have a love for tarnished silver and you’ve somehow captured that in your paint! Amazing!
Looks great! Glad you kept at it. The stripes really make it interesting!
I’m in Australia. I’m soooo excited that we will be able to buy your products here……
I LOVE IT!!!!!! I’m am sooooooo excited to get this color in the shoppe! and Apron Strings too. CANNOT WAIT!!
Love it and the styling. Pit. Ter. Pat.
Gonna try hemp oil next project for sure. It looks great! I also love the trophies with the group photo, looks awesome and totally copy worthy.
I would love to know your approach to sanding, it always looks so natural but not overdone (i.e. edge sanding). Hope that makes sense.
That is a great color, Love this turned out.Congrats on your paint line going international…exciting!!
In English that would be I love how this turned out. LOL.
Hi Marian. Love the color. Love how you created the stripes also – great wonderful way to deal with the existing embellishments, without just ignoring them. Very creative. Refinishing a piece of furniture is not all about the artist…the furniture piece has a way if communicating also!
Love this…and looking forward to your other new colors too. Today I mixed part Tricycle and part Mustard seed for an orangey salmon coral (not quite sure what you would call it!) I love experimenting!
Linda
I love it when “mistakes” turn out so lovely! It is good to see that someone else likes to be open to mistakes being a “good thing”! Great job on the dresser! 🙂
Really different than I expected, but I do like how it turned out! Very nice color. Great job 🙂
Looks smashing! Where will you put in your home or will you be selling?
Love the alarm clock. Dresser looks great.
Girl……. I have a piece of my own right now given me tude! I look at her and love her and then look at her again and I hate her!! lol
You did a great job! The piece came out beautiful.
Congrats to going International! That’s AWESOME!!
I love this piece and all the imperfections as well! It just turned out wonderful! You have some amazing talent.
Marian….
This dresser definitely had attitude and didn’t go down without a fight, but in the end you won the “Trophy”. BTW… I love the vintage trophy and clock you decorated her in.
Wow! Really lovely!
That color is fabulous and the dresser looks great painted!
Love the dresser and the staging. Love the boots, too. Are they the Deerfield? They look different in the catalog? Perhaps from your horse back riding-
Love the process you shared, how you find beauty in what could have been a mistake! Is that a Number 1 in the middle? Or did it just look like that to me? If it is, I think it’s quite funny how you introduce colour ‘Trophy’, with a piece that looks like one! First prize!!! What can I say? Congrats! 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous!!
Turned out great! I love how a project can take on it’s own theme. Gotta love furniture with attitude…gives us so many pleasant surprises. I am on the hunt for some of those fabulous trophies! Will you have any at The Chapel Market?? Please please please!
Hi Marion,
I like the dresser, very creative. I didn’t realize that you could use the hemp oil to finish a painted piece. (I hope I’m not the only one!) I thought it was just for bringing back wood finish. Will you comment on that? Thanks!
I love the look. The color is so soft and pretty and I love all your accessories too. Many years ago my sister asked me to help her paint a little wooden chair black. She was going to use it in her kitchen as a chair for a built in desk. After we painted it we decided to use a sealer on it because she had to small boys at the time and we thought it would give it extra protection, but once we got the sealer on it started to eat away at the black paint. Trying to “help” we tried to wipe the sealer off before it dried – the result was this really cool time- warned look that she ended up keeping. Who knew the two of us were such a creative team! Sometimes mistakes are good things. I would really like to try and use the hemp oil too. I remember my dad using tung oil on furniture. Any similarity between those two products?
Hi Marion,
Have to say, this might have been a bear while you were working, but this is my FAVORITE painted piece on your site! Absolutely, positively, LOVE, LOVE LOVE it! I can’t decide if it reminds me of vintage Burberry or a gray Hudson Bay blanket… either way, it’s positively fantastic!
I recently found your blog and have enjoyed reading about and seeing your furniture transformations. I follow only a very few DIY bloggers and have to say you are a very talented and blessed lady!
Wow! Very nice! You’ve inspired me to move mountains in my home.
Awesome transformation! Luv it:0)
XO, Linda
I love it !!!!!!! The Trophy and all the ways you worked it is beautiful. She is now a lady with a character of her own!!!!!!
Where did you get your boots. They are so cute!
Love it! Everything looks perfect and the styling puts it over the top!
Beautiful colour! I love how the stripes turned out.
Gotta say….this would not be close what I would’ve expected. I think this should be a do-over…you owe it to those legs!
Well, to each his/her own. I love it. 🙂
I am afraid I agree with Sharon.
Wow! Just Wow! The first time you posted it I was skeptical but I really like how it turned out. Perseverance paid off 🙂
That’s a super cool name! It’s so fitting!
I know I’m in the minority but it was a beautiful piece — seems wrong to paint it. Yes, to each their own.
How do you dust the hand rubbed waxed and the hemp oiled pieces? If I painted a dresser (it was naked pine) with a tinted primer, flat red paint, and a brown glaze but never got around to sealing it ( did it about eight years ago before this paint craze I had going but would have loved all paints available now…..can I use the hemp oil?? I’m now disabled and I would not be able to wax and buff. But I could paint on the hemp oil, let sit, paint more and wipe. The piece is not shiny at all. Looks fine but think the shine would add to it.
I just dust with a dry cloth or a swifter duster. I stopped using polishes and sprays years ago, because it builds up on the furniture, causing a haze. If something is really dirty, I’ll use a mild soap and damp cloth.
Yes, if you have a flat piece and want to put a finish on it, Hemp Oil would be a great option for you.
Perfection at its best! Great job Marion!
Xo
Alison
Thank you for using a piece that gave you trouble for it allowed us to be taught soo much. I want to make something clear in my mind. Remember that tree bleed through? You said you applied wax and then painted? So did the paint stick then? It didn’t slide off? So if I have a waxed piece and want to change it, I can just paint over it? And it works as if I’m painting from fresh start? So we can repaint our MMSP items again even if we’ve waxed and buffed without any special prep?
Yes, the paint stuck to my furniture wax just fine. I’m not sure about other waxes, since there are so many on the market. I would suggest giving the piece a light sanding and using the bonding agent if there is any question.
I really love your work – grey is so neutral too but … I am not a fan of the stripes, I like the ‘ugly stage’ paintwork. Perhaps it is because I don’t really use stripes in my home. BUT I love how you have combined the lovely calming grey with the earthy leather / browns & silvers – so very beautiful & inspiring!
I”m going to be truthful…well, at least my truth…I think it looks awful. It looks to me like you have used a grey primer and it’s awaiting it’s final coats of paint. I think this one is a do-over!
Be.Still.My.Heart. I absolutely LOVE this transformation Marian:)
As a store owner I’ve seen so many hand-painted pieces of furniture . . . this is one I’d like to have at my shop — or maybe my boy’s room : ) I thought it was cool in the earlier stages, and more so now. Love your ideas!
I love her! She should be named since she was so complainant maybe she should be called Ana…..LOL.. seriously though I love her and your work…I am a new fan of yours. I met MMS at Georgia’s Lakewood 400 Antique and Flea Market!
I love her! Since she was so non -complainant, maybe she should be called Ana…..LOL.. seriously though I love her and your work…I am a new fan of yours. I met MMS at Georgia’s Lakewood 400 Antique and Flea Market!
sorry I couldn’t edit my comment to make sense ,,,but it was supposed to be a humorous reference to Fifty Shades of Gray because well, it’s Gray and Ana because Ana’s character in the book was ..never mind it’s not as funny in print as it is in my head.
I’m sorry, but I really thought the piece had a beautiful wood grain and should have been refinished as opposed to painted. This gray paint reminds me of a battleship, drab, boring, and ugly. It is a shame to cover up such beauty created from something natural. Again, I am sorry, but when I saw the before pictures I just could not believe how pretty this piece was and how it looks now.
I just don’t get it. It’s very busy looking, unsettled. Did you intend to make the stripes crooked toward the bottom? Or are we blaming the non compliant dresser. Crooked anything just unsettles me.
Well, it’s all hand-done, so I like the imperfections that show that. It’s a personal preference thing and this look is definitely not going to appeal to everyone. 🙂
EEEK, you’re in Northern Ireland!!!
I’ve been following your blog for over a year now but am having a massive catch up session this week whilst I’m on holiday (have caught up on your posts from May to now!) but I’m super excited to have read that you’ve just launched in my home country 🙂 Have been toying with the idea of painting a wenge coloured chest of drawers in my guest room and this is definitely a sign I should!
I love the perfect imperfections! Chippy weathered goodness! Thanks for all the inspiration!