Cottage Chic Dresser

Howdy!  It's time to share another dresser with you.  This is what it ended up looking like, certainly not what it started like.  I sure wished I was a better photographer, because then you would really see how pretty of an aqua/blue this is.  It looks really light colored here, but at least you get the idea. After:

Before: (except for you can't smell the insanely-overwhelming-knock-you-over cigarette smell it started with).  I sure questioned why I bought this as soon as it was in my car and the doors closed.  The house had a faint smoky smell when I was purchasing this at an estate sale (for $35) but there were no signs that warned me it was going to be this bad.  Let's just say I went through two big bottles of vinegar to get this baby smelling non-smoky.  To start (after removing the hardware) I simply rubbed the entire piece down (inside, outside, drawers, etc.).  Set it in the sun and as it dries, the smoky smell and the vinegar smell goes away...well, at least that's been my experience in the past.  Not so much with this stubborn piece.  So, I filled a spray bottle with vinegar on the next day and drenched everything letting it dry in the sun...better, but nowhere near good.  Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat....ahhhh, finally bye bye cigarette smoke smell. Again, questioning my judgment with this purchase.  But at least at this point I have a normal starting point, so I guess the dresser and I can remain friends.

 I sanded the top down to wood with my Dewalt orbital sander:  60 grit, 80 grit, 120 grit, 220 grit.  I sanded everything else down with my sander at a 120 grit...just enough to rough it up and take off the shine.

 Using Benjamin Moore's Smart Prime tinted to match their Mill Springs Blue paint, I painted the dresser frame, the mirror, and the drawers.  My primer job always looks sloppy...that's just how it works with primer. Go with it.

 I was working on a couple projects at once, so you can ignore the drawers that are painted white...that's another post for another day.  But you can see the blueish aqua on the drawers here.

 Here's the mirror after priming.

 After a coat of Benjamin Moore's Mill Spring Blue, here's what it started to look like.  Again, you can play "which one of these doesn't belong"?  Oh, it's the white drawers!

 I had some fabulous help this day from my neighbor girls and my little puppy.

 Back to the dresser.  I used my all time favorite stain for the top - Minwax Dark Walnut.  You can see that I picked that can up at a garage sale for .50.  I love some cheapness!  To save yourself headache during cleanup, be sure to wear gloves for this process.  Also, be sure to stain with the grain.  I always use a sock or t-shirt scrap to stain with and then dispose of afterwards.

 Next up was spray painting the hardware with my every so trusty ORB spray paint. I may or may not have an obsession with this stuff.  Just sayin.  You can pick this up at Lowe's or Home Depot for around $7 a can.  It goes a long way when using it primarily for hardware.  For the look it provides though, it's soooo worth the investment.

 Using my sander at with a 220 grit paper, I distressed the edges of the dresser, drawers, and mirror.

 This is a much more accurate color of the paint than all the rest of the pictures below that you are about to see.

 After putting it all back together:

The entire piece was sealed for durability and protection with Minwax Paste Wax in clear (available at Lowe's). This is a popular color and look down here.  I'm sure it will go fast to a beach house or condo.  This piece is currently for sale in my booth space at De'France.

Let me know if you every have questions about the processes I use.  I'm sure there are better and more "right" ways of doing things out there, but I just like to share what I use and what works for me.  I'm always trying new products and techniques and evolving as I go.

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