Hand Painted Gray Chest Furniture Makeover

Well I promised in my last post to show more about my most recent project, this wonderful antique chest of drawers.

Remember the teaser?

This was a really fun project for me and my first attempt at a hand-painted design.

I’ll walk you through the process.

Here is the chest before:

Sorry for the kind of crooked picture. I bought it from a young gentleman on Craigslist who said it had been his mother’s.

She had given it to him when he moved out on his own, but it “wasn’t his style”.

Imagine that 🙂

He said she was a little upset he was selling it, but I told him to tell her that I would make sure it made its way back into the hands of someone who loved it.

I was excited about the detail on it, but it also had some issues–chipping veneer, major scratches, a few big dents.

I thought a complete covering in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint would be the best way to go. And I love the look though of a naturally stained top, so I decided to go that route.

I sanded down the top to bare wood. This was a time consuming process, but I was really proud to do it all by myself! I spent a few days working on it with a palm sander and then hand sanded it in some of the tougher spots.

Once I started taking off the hardware and removing the drawers, I noticed some evidence of prior painting.

Some blue, some green . . . I also discovered that someone had replaced the knobs will pulls and drilled new holes.

How many makeovers has this old girl seen?

Well, she is about to get one more, and I hope she stays this way for awhile.

Here is what she looked like after the 2 coats of Annie Sloan French Linen and a newly stained top.

A little blah, right?

A lot of the beautiful detail seemed to fade away, but then the flaws seemed to show up more!

So, I decided to add some detail back by creating a hand-painted design on the drawers fronts. It would also help mask the small chipped spots.

It was a fun experiment, took me a few hours of sitting in my garage one night. I did have to re-paint one drawer, but once I got the hang of my pattern I think it all came together great.

I wanted to keep it sleek, so I didn’t distress it at all.

I did decide to get rid of the original hardware since it was newer and didn’t really fit the feminine style of the piece.

The new knobs are from Hobby Lobby and are a blue and white porcelain. I think they add a perfect splash of complementary color.

The top re-stained beautifully, and I finished it off with a coat of poly to give it some shine.

In the process of moving it inside to take a picture, one of its casters broke, so I had to order new (old) ones from Ebay. Once they get here, up she goes to my space!

Thanks for looking, and have a wonderful rest of the week!

Linking up to Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday