Chalk Painting An Old Dresser 

If you follow me on Instagram of Facebook you will know that I recently painted my antique dresser. I have had many questions in regards to the technique I used as well as what kind of paint, so I am going to answer all of your questions here and give you my step by step process of how I achieved this look on my dresser. If you have any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below. I will also add some affiliate links for where you can find products that I used as well as some of my decor pieces in this space.

 

 

Here is a photo of the “before” of this gorgeous dresser. I managed to snag this off of Craigslist for $60.

 

They actually wanted $100 and then she agreed on $75 and when I got there and I didn’t say anything for the first 30 seconds of looking at it, she offered to take $60 without me even asking. Well, that was easy and nice of her. I think she knew it needed some work and they had not taken care of it. The top was in rough shape from whatever they had sitting on it (as you can see in the photo).

 

The hardware was one of my favorite parts of the dresser. I just love this old hardware! I started by sanding down the top of the dresser with 100 grit sand paper, using my electric hand sander. I was actually pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to sand much. Whatever was on the top of the dresser came right off. I did lightly sand the rest of the dresser as well due to some nicks and scratches. After using this technique, I would advise sanding the piece prior. The paint stuck better to the places where my piece was sanded.

 

This technique was so super easy. I only had to use one coat of paint and then just touched up the areas where I felt like it needed a little more paint. There is no “right or wrong” with this technique and you basically just work with the paint until your piece looks like you want it to look. Here are my basic steps.

1. I started off by sanding my piece after I removed the hardware.
2. I made my chalk paint with Valspar Flat “Sooty Lashes” with my recipe here.
3. I began painting with a brush and then would wipe off paint with a wet paper towel in the places where I wanted the paint to be thinner on my piece. I also wiped over the areas that were more prominent with designs and such to make them stand out more on my piece. When I was wiping paint off, I was careful to wipe lightly to keep it from not looking streaky in the end.
4. I then wiped all of the paint off of my brush with a dry paper towel and would brush the areas that had less with the same brush. This left a soft muted color on the parts that were less painted.
5. After my paint was dry and my piece was painted as I desired, I wiped on a clear beeswax sealant with a lint free cloth from @oldbarnmilkpaint and reattached the hardware.
6. That’s it! Can you believe it? The process went so fast and I love how it turned out!

 

 

Here is the dresser when it was all finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by! I love teaching different painting techniques. A paint brush is only a part of a whole new beginning. Have a great day!

 

Sources: 

 

All Dishes: Thrifted

Church Pew: Antique Store

Shelves: DIY

Brackets: Home Depot

Light Colored Pillow: Ikea

Fluffy Pillow: World Market

Scale: Antique Store

Cutting Board with Leather Strap and Wood Vases: PCB Home

Antlers: Antique Fair, mounted on a board that I stained, painted, and distressed

Large Steer Photo: CC and Mike Blog

Ornate Frame: Garage Sale

Wood Pallet Behind Photo: Garage Sale

Old Door: Thrifted

Crock: Thrifted

Terra Cotta Pots: Garage Sale and Dry Brushed with my chalk paint recipe

Other Cutting Boards: Thrifted