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My Vintage Porch

Interior Design, DIY, and Refurbishing

Chalk Painting An Old Dresser 

Filed Under: DIY, Entry way, Home Tour, Painting Tagged With: antique, chalk paint, chippy, church pew, distressed, diy, diy home, diy home decor, diy projects, DIY shelves, dresser, entry way, farmhouse, farmhouse decor, farmhouse style, milk paint, modern farmhouse, modern rustic, open shelving, painted, painted dresser, painting technique, refurbished, rustic, thrifted, upcycle, upcycled, vintage, vintage farmhouse, wood shelves

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.

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

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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).

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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 diy chalk paint recipe.
  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 from @oldbarnmilkpaint with lint free cloth and then reattached the hardware.
  6. That’s it! Can you believe it? The process went so fast and I love how it turned out!

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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 or find similiar here or here

Church Pew: Antique Store

Shelves: DIY

Brackets: Home Depot

Light Colored Pillow: Ikea

Fluffy Pillow: World Market

Scale: Antique Market

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

 

 

Affiliate links are added in this post to assist in finding products that I used as well as home decor. I only link companies that I trust.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. My Vintage Porch says

    March 26, 2017 at 11:42 am

    Thank you, Olga! I would use poly on a table top. Wax is not as durable to keep from marks and scratches.

  2. Kellie says

    March 27, 2017 at 4:15 am

    Wow! what an awesome CL find & then the transformation is so beautiful!! I love it!

    • My Vintage Porch says

      March 30, 2017 at 8:36 am

      Thank you so much, Kellie! ?

  3. Terri Thomas says

    April 16, 2017 at 4:28 am

    Stunning! I love how wiping the paint off gave it a timeworn feel and left the details visible. Just beautiful.

    • My Vintage Porch says

      April 17, 2017 at 9:27 am

      Thank you so much Terri!

  4. Donna says

    April 16, 2017 at 4:54 am

    The dresser came out so beautiful! You must be so pleased. Thank you for sharing. Have a Happy Easter.

    • My Vintage Porch says

      April 17, 2017 at 9:28 am

      Thank you so much Donna! I hope you had a blessed Easter as well ❤️

  5. Susan says

    April 16, 2017 at 6:32 am

    Great job!! And what a fantastic price. And your styling is spot on. Thanks for sharing your talents. Susan

    • My Vintage Porch says

      April 17, 2017 at 9:28 am

      Thank you so much Susan! ?

  6. kraftivo says

    August 21, 2017 at 2:49 am

    The best emotive interior design…..!!!

    • My Vintage Porch says

      August 21, 2017 at 7:04 am

      Thank you so much!

    • My Vintage Porch says

      August 23, 2017 at 10:20 am

      Thank you !!

  7. Alisa Berry says

    August 25, 2017 at 12:05 pm

    What color is it?

  8. Anne Holcomb says

    September 11, 2017 at 9:35 am

    I love everything about this post from the great deal of the piece to the finished product which is absolutely gorgeous. I too paint furniture and can’t wait to try your technique and it sounds so easy. Thank you for that!

    • My Vintage Porch says

      September 12, 2017 at 8:57 pm

      Thank you so much Anne!

  9. The Fortmaker's Wife says

    January 13, 2018 at 11:42 am

    It is really beautiful. I have never seen this technique.

    • My Vintage Porch says

      January 14, 2018 at 12:14 pm

      Thank you so much!! I love how it shows the detail even after painting

Trackbacks

  1. DIY Spring Wall Art says:
    March 29, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    […] Dresser Paint Color: Sooty Lashes Valspar paint, (see the tutorial of how I painted my dresser here) […]

  2. Our Christmas Guest Room says:
    December 23, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    […] Dresser Under Art: Craigslist and DIY Painted […]

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I hung this Thrifted crocheted table runner as a v I hung this Thrifted crocheted table runner as a valance today and I love it! Swipe over for the before of this space 😳 I barely remember what it used to be. #bathroomrenovation #coppertub #brickwall #bathroomdesign
(Swipe over to see a closer view of the frame and (Swipe over to see a closer view of the frame and the before)I love it!!!! I know some of you may like the “before” better but I love it so much better now, for our house! Before, when the frame was cherry color, it felt like the frame was the star of the show and now (after painting it gold) the painting pops more than the frame 🙌🏼 The signature says “Gordiano” #paintingart #diningroom
Do you see my pots still sitting over there? They Do you see my pots still sitting over there? They are pretty much dry now! Yayyyy! I’ll show you a close up soon! Have a great Sunday!! ♥️ #woodceilings #antiquerug #quartzite
(Swipe over for “before) Anyone remember when I (Swipe over for “before) Anyone remember when I got these barstools at @antiquitieswarehouse ? I’m so glad I did! Oh, and I swept up the dog fur after the photo. 😁 #kitchendesign #rustichome #brickwall #exposedbrickwall #saltillo
Today, after over 30 years, I learned that I don’t know how to Amish cuss! (See stories if you’re confused) Trav has believed I knew how for over 30 years too….I guess he also believed me when I told him that it was my uncle in the Barney purple dinosaur costume. Now let’s all Bish Shtill about colonoscopy prep, until I’m finished. 🤫 ok, that’s all…and this is an antique coffee grinder on the side of the cabinet there…I know that’s true for sure. #coffeegrinder #beforeandafter #kitchen #smeg #antiquerug #antiquecoffeegrinder #caribou
(Swipe over to see the shelf and the before of thi (Swipe over to see the shelf and the before of this space) We turned this “used to be workout room” from the previous owners into our laundry room, so we could have more space since the other laundry room they had was so small.  We have a couple more lights to add, I want to figure out a way to cover the electrical box in the corner, and we might reface the storage above here and then we should be done, oh and maybe add a wood ceiling 😊 I’m just putting it all out here so Trav can see it and not be surprised for the upcomings. The end…of me, maybe. oh, and the stairs? Those lead to the creepy dark attic (hvac and other stuff) where hopefully there is no people living. #brickfloors #laundryroommakeover #laundryroomideas #laundryroomdesign #antiquefurniture #farmhousesink #castironsink
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