I always hate the anticipation of having to drag a piece of furniture up my basement steps, rearrange my dining room and set up a photo shoot, but I am always so happy when I take the time and effort to do it. This is my latest dresser makeover, that is going to be the “pop of color” in my room for the Lucketts holiday open house. I’ve been calling her the “Swiss Miss”, for obvious reasons.
I found this dresser at the same shop where I found the cola cooler. It needed a little bit of repair on the drawers, but was in nice condition otherwise. The wood is a beautiful bird’s eye and I fancy these empire-shaped dressers. (It did have all of the the drawers, I just snapped a quick picture with my phone before I painted it.)
I sanded down the top (the old finish was barely there, so I didn’t need to use a chemical stripper) , stained and waxed it for a warm, aged looked. The base is painted in one coat ASCP Emperor’s Silk directly over the wood. Once the red was dry, I taped off the cross and painted that in two coats of ASCP Old White. The tricky part came in the distressing. I didn’t want to turn the cross pink, so I had to distress the red and white portions separately. I also waxed them separately, so the red wouldn’t bleed through the wax onto the white. I just wanted little hints of red showing through the white cross and I was able to achieve that by working carefully.
Oh, I wish, wish I had the perfect place for this piece, but I don’t. I am totally in love with it.
I used some tortoise-shell looking knobs from Hobby Lobby to tie into the warmth of the wood top.
I hope she ends up in a very chic home. I don’t think I could stand the thought of her being wedged between a mauve 1980’s la-z-boy and monster sectional.
69 Responses
omgosh….this would look so amazing in my son's room! swiping this idea, lovey 🙂
Ooooh I love it, love it, loveit-loveit-loveit! :))
(waving a huge swiss flag, tripping and rolling from one side of the room to another…)
It's really HOT…but…that cross is such an icon, it's a very powerful symbol on many different levels and I think it would be better if it were perfect. Maybe further skewed so it's abstracted but I think perfect is best. But I still love you and I think it's a great idea!!
btw I really like the quote on the chalk board!
Big sigh of love.
You did a really nice job on this piece! I {heart} the red!
Stunning!
J'aime beaucoup le résultat!
Have a good evening!
Don't you have red in your guest room?? Just sayin'! It is beautiful, I don't think I could part with it 😉
I love those wire baskets/shelf trays, and they are always SO expensive!!!! New or old, way too expensive. GOT to figure out a way to make them!!! Or a really cheap source! Maybe some industrial place uses them and gets them at a low price! I LOVE that hutch!
Kate
I am in LOVE! My husbands family is of Swiss heritage and so I have a soft spot for anything "Swiss-y"! It's sure to sell in a hurry!
Mykl
Beautiful piece. I was curious how the Emperor's Silk looked on a piece…may need to order some for a retro desk I have waiting in the wings. Have you ever thought of creating a neutral wall in your work space for staging? I have a tough time moving pieces on my own and I rarely have the patience to wait for help…might save our backs a little:) Take care.
love it…now i'm thinking!!
btw have you ever considered setting up a spot in the basement for photo shoots?…set up some great lighting tools and you'd be all set!
Cool!!! As always your creativity shines!
♥Linsey
http://farmhouseporch.blogspot.com/
Love this design and the photos are gorgeous, the wax does give it a nice patina! Janell
LOL, mauve lazy boy….Love it.
Love this piece! I wouldn't be able to part with this at all. I heart it.
So cute! I love the keyholes! I'm a sucker for keyholes… 🙂 You did a nice job distressing as well, not too much, but looks great!
She is a beauty!!
as a real swiss misses i do like your swiss miss!!! good idea!!!
I love all of your pieces and am glad you kept Mrs. Horse (not sure why I think of her as a married mare 🙂 I painted my Grammy's dresser and put a decorative paint treatment on it. After seeing all of your creations I am seriously thinking about removing the paint on the top of the dresser and just staining it! I love the two-toned effect… maybe after the holidays! {{Sigh}} too much to do, so little time!
Blessings, Melodye
LOL about the mauve sectional! Great job on this one! I have one coming up soon–inspired by you. I hope you stop by one day to see it.
LOVE this! Reminds me of skiing in the Alps. For real….it was a disaster. The tiny slopes in NC did not prepare me for the Swiss Ski Team that traveled in the lift up with us. That should have been the first warning. Would be great in a cabin or anywhere! You are so creative! Love, Me http://www.youaretalkingtoomuch.com
Beautiful dresser design! It would look great in my son's room.
The really turned out great… isn't it a shame that we can't keep everything!!??
I would so love to put this in my home! I am in love…..I would find a place to put it, no La Z Boy furn here. But, we do have a monster sectional. It is cute though, red slipcovers with cute pillows. We had a huge room to fill and lots of teenagers end up here. This would look perfect in this room. I am inspired! I see a new "flag frenzy" coming on with this!
Looking beautiful! Great work…
acupofsparkle.blogspot.com
I just started painting furniture and I am enjoying the process so much! I would like to sell some of my pieces, but I get so attached, just like you have been describing. Your ideas are so inspirational and it's neat to read about how much God is blessing your business. Keep putting Him first. 🙂
I would redo my sons room just to use this piece!!!! OMG you rocked this piece!
I'm always inspired when I see your work. It's a beautiful piece.
Bahaha!!! I laughed so hard at your last words….hoping this didn't get shoved in amongst a sectional and a barfy pink recliner!!!!
I would hope not either!!
Looks lovely!! 🙂
I adore this piece! And the tortoise shell knobs just completely threw me over the edge. Amazing!
i more then fancy empire dressers. they are to die for. looks great! wish it was in my casa! 😉
ashley over @
{hookedonhickory}
will it not go in your guest room? it has the right colors… unless you've changed it up recently! I love it and I think you just gave me the perfect inspiration for the dresser in our bedroom!
Meg
You're too funny!
Love the way it turned out. You did a really nice job on the 'swiss miss'
…so, you don't think that would go well, with my mauve recliner? You can be honest!
ha ha ha…Pat
I love this!
Jenny
http://www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com
I love it…..maybe it's because I was just telling my hubby that i wanted to paint the next thing I do with a swiss flag!! 🙂
I guess great minds think alike!
lol! we had a mauve lazy boy at one time…that brought back the 80's memories. whew, I'm kind of glad we've moved beyond that.
she's a beauty. I love it.
Thanks for taking the time to carry this up and share with us. It will sell in no time.
Really a cute design on this one! A little extra work with the white over the red and the thoughts of pink creeping through…but you did it! and it looks great. That will sell fast, I think. I immediately, of course, pictured it full of boxes of hot chocolate (Swiss Miss)..lol xo Diana
Very nice blog!
Love it. What a great look!
Aw, man! I was so thinking, "Well, if I moved over the Lazy Boy, and chopped off the end of the monster sectional, this would be perfect!"
Ok, maybe not, I think I am allergic to sectionals. Love this though!
Another truly unique piece that I am smitten with! So simple in design and yet it grabs your attention right now! It's what I call simple with a Wow factor. Totally into that these days. ;^)
It's so hard to have to give up some of the things we make that we really love, but it's usually for the best sometimes.
Hobby Lobby. We don't have one of those!!! Argh! I love those knobs. You girls who shop there find the best knobs. The dresser is charming.
I wish I could convince my husband this dresser is worth a 5 hour trip!! LOVE it so much!!
Love the Swiss Miss!!
one of my favorites….ever.
for real.
🙂
I love it!!! That would look great in my great room!
Oh! It's so cute and unexpected!
Gorgeous again! I love your unique touches to furniture.
I love the last thing you said….and I couldn't agree more…she needs a perfect place in a perfectly chic home. 🙂 On an entirely different note, I went antiquing with my mom today as a sort of late birthday gift and we saw an old rocking horse (similar to yours) and she bought it for me. 🙂 I love it! So does my 11 mo.old….he's the perfect age for it and I plan to let him use it until he outgrows it, then I'll use it for decor!!
Hugs,
Gail
Beautiful!!! You're going to laugh when you see the piece I painted today…looks totally different, but it's got that warm wood and emporer's silk thing going on. 😉
shaunna
Ooo, how fun! I love how you leave the top wood. I want to do that with a side table I have, but it has all these carved curly-ques all around it: the thought of stripping those makes me want to cry! Not sure what to do. I am falling in love with red lately…that red is beautiful!
I'm expecting my first order of German glass glitter to arrive any time now. I think I'm going to tackle the UPS man when it comes!! CAN'T WAIT… a bunch of ornaments all stand waiting! 🙂 I did clay ones and gourds so far. Thanks for introducing me to the glitter…I used the cheap stuff last year and I KNOW the real stuff will make a world of difference!!
Looks wonderful! Ha ha! mauve lazyboy! They are still lurking everywhere!
Once again, awesome job! Love your insight into the possibilities in a piece…over and beyond the "norm"! 🙂
I AM A NURSE. SO, TO ME IT IS A MEDICAL CROSS!!! WHICH I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE IN MY HOME!!!!!!! BUT MY HUSBAND IS IN THE US NAVY AND WE ARE NOT STATIONED IN CONUS OR IT WOULD ABSOLUTELY HAVE A HOME WITH MY FAMILY, LOVE YOUR BLOG AND CAN IDENTIFY WITH YOU IN SO MANY DIFFERENT ASPECTS! GOD BLESS……..
Das ist gut…the mauve sectional, not so much.
: )
Julie M.
Really, really love this. You are so inspiring. I have two dressers this would work on. Now which one is feeling lucky next week when I have time to paint? Thanks again.
My first thought was to set up a backdrop and lighting in the basement for shoots … but I see that I wasn't the first with that thought 😉
She is now…so much more fun! Great job re purposing this bureau.
Jess
Love it!! Your last line made me laugh out loud.
Love the transformation! My favorite color- RED!- adds punch anywhere. Just super!
What's wrong with my mauve recliner?
(LOL)
Love this!
Donna
YOU ARE AMAZING !
Beautiful job! I am loving the red!! I recently picked up this exact dresser, minus the legs. I almost missed it, as I had purchased a smaller 4 drawer and was dealing with that. Then the heavens opened….and I tripped over the corner of it LOL I've been contemplating chunky bun feet to get it up off the floor. It has several coats of paint, latest being nasty green and dark brown. It will be a winter project, unless someone buys it before January. Now I have the inspiration, and the name of the style!! Thanks so much for sharing it!!
Cim at JingleBobs
Oh my! No worries about it ending up next to a mauve anything!! You did good! Real good!
Ok, stunning, I have obsessed over this for the last 24 hours and after amassing every paint, wax, glaze, brush and sponge I’m ready for the dresser to be transformed into the exact same beautiful price I see here! It won’t happen, it will look like a bloody massacre polished off with a waxy glaze, but hey, Threes no fun in it if I don’t try 😉 what was the stain color you used in the wood? I have minwax “Early American Frontier” or something like that….originally was planning on doing a union jack, but the red and white was so pretty ( and the Swiss flag/medical flag seemed more fitting for what would end up looking like a scene out of Dexter)!