Well, some of you are so smart and you guessed right away what I was up to in my post yesterday.
Yes. I painted a Union Jack dresser. The concept came about a few weeks ago when I was moving some furniture into Lucketts. Karen carries a wonderful line of British themed wrapping paper and suggested painting a union jack sign. That idea transformed into the thought of making a Union Jack dresser.
I started hunting for a good candidate and found this one on Craig’s List. It was perfect.
It was handy that this antique dresser was already painted blue, but it needed a fresh coat, anyway. I stripped the top to reveal the gorgeous (and very heavy) solid wood underneath. I almost always change out the hardware on furniture, but when I noticed a plastic bag with the original hardware in it, I removed the modern nickle hardware in favor of the antique brass pulls.
Once the flag was painted and dried, I sanded the edges to give it a worn look and antiqued it. Now, I am glad to be an American, but I must say, the Brits have a pretty stinkin’ cool flag. They also have the most amazing cottages and clotted cream. And they have a cool accent.
Anyway, I’m only showing tight shots of this dresser, but more details and tutorials will come down the road and I’ll let you know where you can find them.
Patience, patience. Until then, if you love this dresser with all your heart and must own it, it will be for sale at the Old Lucketts Store Ground Hog Day sale, February 4-6.
90 Responses
This turned out very cool! I can picture it in an entryway in a loft or a teens bedroom. Teen boys are hard to design around! Trust me, they can be fussier then girls.
Love it! What a super idea, and I'm glad you went back to the original pulls. I'm also with you on clotted cream…on scones…with raspberry-rhubarb jam….mmmmm! Oh, and the accent! 😉
That one's going to sell fast! I love the original brass hardware. I love how the paint job is perfectly imperfect.
Now that is fabulous. Love it but then I would….
From Amanda, with the less cool local English accent.LOL
FAB-U-LOUS. Seriously, fantastic.
love this…but i am into americna i have several pieces painted in my f-room…..makes me think i need a dresser out there done as a flag…hmmmm
Love, love, love !!! You are amazing. Your talent is a gift to us all.
Thanks so much for sharing.
megan
Yay I hoped it would be. I love it!
If you haven't checked it out http://thefrenchprovincialfurniture.com/my-french-provincial-dixie-union-flag-dresser-makeover
The site with a similar dresser, shows a lot of really awesome Union Jack items besides a dresser. ♥
it looks awesome. so different from merandas, which if you want to see is here…
http://thefrenchprovincialfurniture.com/my-french-provincial-dixie-union-flag-dresser-makeover/comment-page-1
she didn't distress hers, and i like the distressed look! and yes, their flag is way cool- american flags don't look as cook on furniture. meranda used to live in teh area, too, but she moved to the west coast. anyhow, it looks awesome.
hello, well i'm from the UK – london and well, you are so clever. we do have a great flag and you did it proud. as i british girl does that mean you send it to me?….. ha! x
I would never be so bold as to paint a dresser like this under normal circumstances. You, however, ROCKED it out! I LOVE the finished product. Just wonderful!
Very cool. I love England. Went to London with my daughter a few years back. Great place.
Okay I saw this in my reader and I thought it was "Smitten by Britain," of which I follow. I am so surprised to see Miss Mustard Seed in the print. My next thought…she is so cool!!! I want to be a groupie! Just in a innocent Beetle's kind of way! Love this! Very fun.
Sherry
Marian, Wow, this is fabulous!! This has to be one of my favorite things you have created.
Hugs,
Sherry
All I can say is that you are amazing! Your talent and creativity are so inspiring. The union jack dresser is too cool!
How wild side for you! I would never have expected this! Brave and over the top fun!
It sort of reminds me of big posters my brothers hung in their rooms. It has that big brother room feeling to me and makes me smile. 🙂 Awesome!
Donna
I`m so in LOVE with this piece!
It turned out great!
I think I try this my self at home, thank you for sharing!
Lovely greetings…;)
gorgeous! You did a great job! I love the old hardware, it suits this piece much better.
I'm starting to think that we've grown a bit weary of the French look, and it's time to move on. Your dresser is so awesome…it could really be a great focal point in any room. I've always loved the Union Jack. Wonderful job, Marian!
I am LOVING this! I like that you kept the original hardware, too. It is a masterpiece.
This turned out very cool, Marian! I thought for sure you funky junked something with those colors and stripes. A bit unexpected and I love it! Such a statement piece.
I got the word from Restore Interiors that this was a fabulous blog, she was right! I love this project, so want to "redoux" one for myself. I agree, the British Flag is quite fun to look at, probably even more fun to replicate on a piece of furniture! Thank you for sharing.
This is one of my very favourite pieces you've made! I love it!! 🙂
If you don't watch out Pottery Barn is gonna hire you as a designer!
I also LOVE it 🙂
Brilliant!
Oooooo Groovy Baby!! *said a la Austin Powers* Lol! OMG! I LOVEEEE this!! And I'm sad to say…didn't see it coming….But that just made for a wonderful surprise! I wish I could bring it home. You'll make someone very happy with this one! Vanna
As a long time follower and Brit – I love it! So cool – may have to create one over here for me! PS I love your accent!
I love it!! It looks fantastic.
Kathy
Dearest Marian, I'm always amazed at your vision. Hugs, Kim
GET OUT OF HERE! This is tooooo cool!!! I love it! And, of course, God save the queen! ;}
m ^..^
Love it! Love it! Love it! I especially love the "worn" parts!
Ohhh! This is wonderful! My Beau is from the UK – England to be exact and he would absolutely LOVE something like this! Thanks for the inspiration!
Bandhura (Tara)
That is awesome! Being English myself I can really appreciate that. My son would go bonkers for a dresser like that!
love it! i want! can i be you when i grow up~amazing talent miss mustard seed!
Stunning, Marian. As a proud Kiwi, we have a small union jack as part of our flag but I have always thought the coolest flag was the USA stars and stripes!
I particularly love the distressing and antiquing on the dresser, it looks totally authentic and I know it will sell super quickly 🙂
Karen
Hands down, the coolest dresser ever. This piece could make a great serving piece or a great piece in an entry way as well. I look forward to your tutorial. Thanks for keeping me so inspired and I wish I lived closer, Texas is just too far away.
Smiles,
Carol
This is my favorite of your projects!!:))
You've done it again! It's stunning, and I adore it! I'm totally willing to redo my entire color scheme if only you will ship me that dresser! 🙂 Love it!!
I LOVE it! And as much as I would love to own it, I just don't have enough room, but I'm sure it will go to a great home.
I seriously want to weep!!! THIS is my favorite MMS piece…It is bold and perfect! You are the bomb!
Oh my gosh – this is fantastic! It takes a lot for a piece of furniture to make my heart pitter patter and this totally does it! Gorgeous!
Jeanine
Marian,
As a dyed in the wool Anglophile, I absolutely love this dresser! How wonderful.
Karen at Garden Home and Party
very cool and unique… love it has a great look to it
Absolutely brilliant!!! I love, love, LOVE it! My Son and I have a 'thing' about the Union Jack (It also forms part of the Aussie flag), and I painted a series of the United Kingdom flags, which make up the Union Jack, for my Son's room. This is brilliant…you are a genius!!
Wow, what a STATEMENT piece! Amazing and just love it!!
THAT….is way cool!
Marian,
Just joining in the with the others to ooh and ahh over this piece! It is, of course, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I love that the lines are genuinely hand-painted and not too perfect, which only makes it all the better. Original hardware a much better option. Can't wait to see the top. Also, how on earth did you fix that bottom drawer? It looks like its completely missing in the "before" photo.
A good friend of mine is a total Anglophile, travels to England at least once a year for several weeks and always stays for a time at Hampton Court Palace (her home away from home). I'm going to have to show her this dresser, she'll just D-I-E. She'd snap it up in an instant if she were more local to you, but she's here with me in the L.A. area. I may have to do something like this for her on a smaller scale (think jewelry box!). I predict that this dresser does not actually make it to the shop, you will probably have a buyer just from this blog post!
I do love our American flag, but the English one is so darned cool. Everything English is so darned cool! They have the most handsome actors on the planet and the best literature. I could go on and on but will stop here.
Again, awesome piece! You never cease to amaze!
Kimberly
That is one fabulous chest! Have always had a thing for the Union Jack so I crafted a purse of red and white large paisley with blue and white striped ribbons for the stripes. It gets compliments too.
This is totally awesome! What a unique piece. Thanks for sharing.
Oh my goodness Marian, this has got the to be THE coolest piece of furniture I have ever seen. I love it! You are so creative. Wonderful idea!
Blessings to you,
Kathleen
Your dresser is probably one of the coolest furniture make-over I have seen! Love it…
I absolutely LOVE it! This one is gong to get snatched up right away. And can I say great minds think alike? I was linking up my own British Invasion post at Donna's, and was just tickled to see your dresser just above my own link! Too fun!
~Amanda
http://houserevivals.blogspot.com/2011/01/british-invasion-love-and-faux-tin.html
Love it! It is a cool flag.
Rhonda
GORGEOUS! I'm so incredibly inspired by you! 🙂
Wow, what a creative mind! I would have never thought to do something like that but it's really, really cool.
Love it. It's much harder to find nice old furniture cheaply in australia. I'm very jealous of your finds.
Love, love, love this!
Kat 🙂
1 word.
WOW!!
I absolutely love this dresser, but it would be cheaper to do my own here in OZ. 🙂
I absolutely love it! I can just picture it gracing a little boys bedroom! Sigh, if I had a little boy to grace it on! Ah well, once again a job well done!!
The dresser is fabulous!! Very cool!!
Hugs
SueAnn
Ok, I must sound like a complete and incredible nerd to say this so often to you, but. . . Love it! Honestly, I don't know if I'd even use it in my home, but we're fans of British tv here, and I think this would be so fun with a little tabletop tv in a guest room.
I absolutely love it and may have to copy it! It came out gorgeous. Thanks for sharing such a great look.
Awesome dresser! I may have to go check it out in person 😀
Oh my! To die for! I want it!!!
Like everyone else who has commented I am GAGA over that dresser. We live on ENGLAND Drive and I am always tempted to incorporate little bits of Britain into our home. But the Scottish in me just canna do it! 😉
sooooooo cute!!!! I absolutely adore any and all anglophile stuff- this is the coolest. well done.
LOVE it!!!! Hugs,Rachel
French Farmhouse 425
…totally, radically, awesome!!!!
so fun, i love this dresser!
I just saw this…I love it!!!!
Have posted it all over (which link back to you, of course!)
Ruth
As a Brit I can say that I wholeheatedly LOVE this dresser. Well done – its amazing 🙂
Just posted a link from my design blog at http://www.debrapaesslerdesigns.com/ to this page. I LOVE it. Well done, you.
Wow, that's a very attractive piece of furniture. I do love the design of the union flag. Unfortunately it's been over used by far right political parties (e.g. the BNP) to promote their xenophobic views, so much so that I wouldn't dream of having something like this in my house – there would be a lot of raised eyebrows! It's quite sad really, glad to see you can still appreciate the design in the USA.
AMAZING! I put a link on my blog to your dresser. Great inspiration for what I did. Check it out @ http://burlapanddenim.com/2011/09/union-jack/
I’m in love with this look. I love the Union Jack, have started adding accents here and there with it.
love this dresser… inspired to make my own.
A question, where did you find the wonderful UK/heraldry themed papers – those would be wonderful decoupage papers or artwork
How do I buy the Union Jack Dresser?
I absolutely love it.
Yay, Marion! We just got a request to do one like this for a client. She found the inspiration here!
may i ask what colour blue that is?? it is a gorgeous shade.
thanks!
Thanks for the share.