Tuesday, May 31, 2011

dresser before & after

time for a project reveal! since our nursery is quite small, i wanted to get a dresser and use it for the changing table too. we found this dresser on craigslist for $30 earlier this year. i have always been inspired by kate's credenza and really wanted to create something similar. i felt like i needed to choose a girly paint color like pink, purple or even a seafoam green. but when it came down to it... i just had to go with navy. it's my favorite color. i hoped that small details on the dresser would give it some femininity since i was choosing a color that was more fit for a boys nursery. 
kate also has a post on how to paint wood furniture the right way. i love that she takes the time to do posts like that, they are so helpful. after we painted our dresser and drawers with two coats of primer, we drew out the design we wanted to paint on the top on some practice cardboard. then we measured, drew and taped down that design on the top.

 painting was tricky. we did multiple coats of navy. since we knew we were supposed to remove the tape while it was still wet, we made sure to do that. however we removed the tape while it was still wet on it's third coat. if we could go back and do it again we would remove the tape after only one coat, then let it dry, then re-tape and paint again. this is because even though we were SO careful in following instructions and even bought the "edge proof" tape... the navy still bled into the white. which was VERY FRUSTRATING. because then we had to go around with teeny weeny paintbrushes and touch up the entire thing. it took a long time and was my least favorite part.
after looking at the dresser and knowing the end was near, we decided we wanted a little bit more white somewhere else on the dresser. so we taped again! this time we taped around the middle for a sweet little surprise.
after letting that dry. we did two coats of lacquer high gloss to make it as shiny as possible :) we put the new knobs on and brought it in! it feels SO good to be done with this project and i'm hoping that this little dresser lasts a long time with all the effort we put into it. i just finished filling the drawers with adorable outfits and i loved every minute! oh and because the details are the most important part... i added a fun surprise inside the drawers!

to see where it's linked up click here.

11 sweet thoughts:

chloƩ said...

aww! i love this britt! it turned out sooo amazing! you guys are awesome! i hope you are doing great! you are so close to having your little one! so happy for you guys.

The Browns said...

Yay you finished. now baby girl can come. I love it, it looks great. can't wait to see it in person. good job my handy crafty friends!

Mallory said...

love the color and it is totally girly. I can't wait to see her finished nursery!

michael. mindy. dane. said...

waaaay cute! i love it!

kate said...

you blow me away with your awesome skills! love this, and can't wait to see more of your baby girl's room!

Unknown said...

stop! i loooove that! so fun! aren't you getting so excited for your little smooshy-gooshy to be in that cute room?

K. Bitton said...

I LOVE IT! You did such a great job! I don't know how on earth you found that dresser for $30!! I have searched for the past 5 years for a deal like that to no avail. :( I absolutely love the knobs and the polka dot paper inside. You are amazing and have such great taste, wish I was more like you:)

angela hardison said...

polka dots! that's always a great surprise. oh and navy is a wonderful choice.

Anonymous said...

Saw this on tip junkie. Amazing. Would love if you posted here:
http://decoratinginsanity.com/2011/07/10/showoff-sundays-4/

xo,
mONICa

BluBabesCreate said...

Love the colors and the design! Come see some amazing reupholstery!

Cara said...

This dresser turned out fantastic! I love the deep, rich color, and the detail on the top. I've done a similar project, and just as you mentioned, we had our navy paint bleed under the tape. So frustrating, but it looks like you overcame it well!