Vintage Dresser in “Fort York Red”

Earlier this fall, I made an impromptu stop at an estate sale in my neighborhood.   I met the lovely woman who was running the estate sale on behalf of her parents who had lived in the home for many years.  In the basement, I spotted this cute little vintage dresser.  The woman explained that the dresser had belonged to her when she was a child.  Her father, who was a painter, had painted it for her.  It was definitely in need of some love, and I normally would pass on pieces that have been previously painted, but something about the story tugged at me.  Here it is in my backyard before I started the makeover.  You can see the yellow paint under the peeling brown paint.  Despite the peeling paint, it was structurally in great shape.

I started by stripping off all of the paint down to the bare wood.  Strippping paint is probably my least favorite part of furniture restoration, but the small size and flat surfaces made it a bit more manageable.  I let the dresser dry out and then sanded and primed.  At that point, I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it, and it sat for about a month.  Eventually, I decided to give it a fresh and fun makeover with a bright pop of color.  Given it’s smaller size and clean lines, I thought a bright pop would work well on this one.  I painted it with 3 coats of (affilliate link) Fusion Mineral Paint in Fort York Red and then added some larger light blue knobs for contrast.

I styled it for the holidays, but this fun red would work any time of year.

My Trader Joe’s amaryllis is blooming and the color matches the dresser perfectly.

Happy Holidays!  Thanks for stopping by.

Susan

Featured in HGTV Magazine, December 2018