This cute dresser was another Craigslist find. Truth be told, I probably shouldn’t have bought it – I have a huge unfinished inventory right now – but a young woman who had just graduated from the UW was desperate to sell it before she had to move. It was in good shape, but a bit bland. I had recently used (affiliate link) Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Tricycle on this farm table and loved it. I thought it would look nice on this piece as well.
Here is the before photo.
I wasn’t thrilled about the little backsplash on the top. It was screwed in from the top and didn’t look so hot. I removed it and filled the holes. I also wanted to add some personality with new pulls. The wood knobs were a bit boring. I have removed so many wood knobs from dressers and have a huge, and growing, collection.
You may have seen some furniture makeovers lately using these fantastic gold arrow pulls from Hobby Lobby. Let me just say, these pulls are like finding the Hobby Lobby unicorn. They are rarely in stock. When I do see them, I buy whatever I can. They are also $10 a pop, so waiting for their 50% day is a must. I finally accumulated 8 of them – just enough for this piece.
This guy is solid wood and I wanted some of the wood tones to show through the paint. The great thing about milk paint is the depth and dimension it adds. I used 2 coats which was perfect. Still some wood tones, and just enough red. Another coat and it would have been completely opaque.
I sanded between coats of paint for a smooth finish. I then sealed it with 2 coats of (affiliate link) General Finishes High Performance Top Coat in flat. The combination of milk paint and GF topcoat (and sanding) results in the smoothest finish. I can’t even resist running my hands across the top.
I used some antique brass knobs for the top drawers.
Anyone remember Simply Red? I raided my husband’s 80’s album collection when I was staging this piece. The Simply Red album is just perfect on this simply red dresser.
Susan
Susan, this is wonderful! What a stellar outcome! I laughed out loud at “the Hobby Lobby unicorn”! It is a beautiful piece before painting and gorgeous after. Thank you~!!!
Thank you Christina!
Those pulls! Every time I go they have exactly one gold arrow in stock. So I buy it. Now I have three. Eventually it will all come together; I’ll have the perfect piece and the right number of arrows. Beautiful job, btw!
Could you let me know the color of red paint that you used if you still happen to remember. Thanks
Hi! The paint is Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in Tricycle. It’s a really great red.