I am in the process of turning my bedroom into a shared space with my fiance. We are on the lookout for yard sale finds to accentuate the space, and were happy to find this great miniature dresser last year. It has been sitting in the storage unit waiting for refurbishing time and the perfect color of paint.
Finally, with a little time off and the right color of paint (Martha Stewart's "Pencil"), we went to work.
With a short stint of Seattle sun, we were lucky enough to do most of this project outside to avoid dust and paint fumes. Starting with a coarse-grained sand paper and a small power sander, we removed the dark, outdated wood stain. When it was relatively free of stain, we went over it again with a finer sand paper to smooth it out. Using a water-based primer (be careful not to use an oil-based primer with a latex paint, as it will not bond properly), we lightly coated the dresser with two thin coats. Primer is necessary on bare wood, as it provides a base for the paint to stick to, and allows your chosen color to show itself without the wood grain showing through.
Before painting, we lightly sanded the primer to make sure there were no drips or globs that would compromise the smooth surface. With paint, always remember that it's better to apply four or five thin layers than one or two thick ones. The thicker the layer, the less even your results will be and you will be battling sloppy drips. I also found that a small foam roller provided smooth coverage, without those pesky brush strokes. We allowed several days for drying and fit the dresser into our new room!
(Images: Andie Wurster)
Re-edited from a post originally published 7.11.11 - JL
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Cute color!
Wow - you did a good job, but I can definitely say that Pencil is definitely my least favorite shade of yellow ever.
Pretty! Pencil was a contender when I decided to repaint our front door. We went with Egg Yolk (also Martha Stewart) instead.
I was going to say "Nooo! Don't paint that!" until I scrolled down. Fun color!
It's a great little dresser.
what a cute dresser. i've never seen one like that.
Looks nice painted and would look ok re-stained, too. Nice size and lines!
I like how you painted the dresser. Although I must say that oil-based primer (on wood) with latex paint works just fine. I've used this combination myself, and YoungHouseLove blog about this all the time as well.
Mission accomplished!
I want that. I was thinking about painting an old dresser in my room and that color would work. Except...I have a huge vintage sign sitting on top of said dresser which is also yellow. What do I do move the sign or choose another color? Or have a big yellow area?
It was a shame to paint that and cover up that gorgeous old wood. Should have left it alone and picked a piece of furniture which really needed to be painted for the splash of color.
It's very cute, but I rarely condone painting wood when it's in good condition.
i love the piece as is... however, the finished product is great!
I must be in the minority, but I would have re-stained and not painted. I love the character of raw wood and this looks like it had plenty of interest.
Those are some good tips about painting furniture. And this looks very nice. But I can't help thinking that it also looked nice before the paint.
I think it's amusing that I'm usually cringing when folks paint wood, but here I thought the paint really freshened the piece up! (putting me on the opposite of the general consensus so far)
(Pencil? Works great for you! Love the portrait, too...)
I would have just sanded and put a wax finish on the piece. But then my SO pretty much hates painted wood (except for one art piece that I sneaked into the house).
Yeah, its kind of a lovely piece without the paint, but it definitely does look good in yellow too.
what font is that?
You will get a smoother finish by thinning the latex primer/paint with water as per the instructions on the label, and then sanding very lightly between each and every coat.
You can also thin the paint with Floetrol for a very smooth finish.
Foam roller is the way to go for the smoothest of finishes.
I don't think there's anything wrong with painting a piece of furniture to make it more to your liking! Great job giving something a new look and new life in your home :)
I absolutly love it...what a beautiful shade of yellow...I wish I know what is the name of that color. Gracias Apartment Therapy for sharing
Foam roller???? When painted a piece of furniture with a foam roller, it made all these tiny bubble that left blisterswhen they dried. The piece was quite clean and I had sanded the primer carefully, and in addition, another drawer I had painted with a brush was fine.
Don't like your color choice, but nice work.
You did a thorough job and glad to see you removed the handles, unfortunately, I don't like that shade of yellow.
how DARE you paint something that's yours and how DARE you chose a color you like. the nerve!
♥ it!!!
It looks great, but the bit about oil based primer and latex finish is definitely not true! Oil is actually the preferred primer on raw wood (it seals it better than waterbased products), and it's 100% safe to put latex paint over oil primer. You just don't want to put latex paint over an oil paint. Primer is a whole different animal.
I think it's funny that no matter what the post is... if it says BEFORE, I MUST click on it. It's like some weird law of human behavior.
i'm with gypsie marie. i'm glad this piece of yours looks so beautiful and functions so well with your life. well done and good eye.
Cute final product!!
Also just wanted to say that you can totally use oil-based primer followed by latex paint. I do it all the time because the oil-based primer isn't gloppy like latex-based primer.
I think I would have kept it unpainted wood and gotten new pulls, but that's just me and my own biases. This piece is giving me slight flashbacks to a acid-green painted bureau my parents had for me as a kid. Same pulls too. I hated it and as soon as I had the means to save money, I started buying Scandinavian designed pieces from Workbench (the 80s pre-ikea fix for such things.)
That rug looks familiar. Is it IKEA?
Sweet makeover!
The low profile and clean lines of this piece tell me it wants to be a quiet, modern piece as opposed to a piece with a bit more 'whimsy' to it with a bold shade of paint. I can imagine how stellar this piece would look sanded down and then oiled in a natural protective finish such as Danish Oil and a very minimalist set of knobs put on it.
Nice job, Andie, but I am confoosed: why did you sand the piece down to bare wood if you were going to paint? I thought it was unnecessary unless you wanted to apply a new stain.
I was also sad to see this painted. I have a dresser I would like to paint, but it's already painted pale yellow. I wish I could strip the old thing and leave it wood! It would add some freshness and positive chi.
It looks great! I'm not sure I would have painted the wood -- when in doubt, laziness wins -- but I do like the end result. A lot of it has to do with the rest of your furniture, too: I don't like having all wood or all painted, I think a mix is best.
... I'm amazed at how little PAINTED WOOD!?!??! RAGE there is in these comments. It is now the perfect yellow to go with the gray walls and alvine ruta, so maybe that's key....
Congrats on a sucessful project! Great job!
In my experience, if you're painting over stained wood, you don't need to sand the wood bare. You DO need to roughen any sealed surface that has a sheen, until it is dull, to maximize adhesion of your primer.
Oil-based primers are formulated differently than oil-based paints, and you CAN use an oil-based primer followed by a water-based paint. This is a common procedure for covering stains, such as from water damage, to keep them from seeping through, or for converting a surface from an oil-based coating to a water-based coating.
Where did you get that rug!?
I want that! It looks great!!
sorry this is kinda off topic: but does anyone know how u submit DIY project pics to b on here? i dont c a link anywhere (?) so i emailed AP in the "contact us" link a few days ago w no response...? lemme know... thx! :)
Although both painted and original pieces look good I think its more important that any furniture piece in a room should go/complement/enhance the complete decor instead of just being a beautiful piece in itself. That said I also loved the illustration placed on top of the dresser.
Congrats on having a finished piece that you like. Personally I would have preferred to see the natural wood restored rather than painted. I'm all for repainting already painted pieces or cheap pine wood, but this looked like it was a quality piece. Very warm, natural and lovely wood needing a little tlc.
It's your piece, do what you want with it! Looks like a fun project! Enjoy it!
To paint or not to paint...on a.t. again.
While I am in the camp that prefers the organic quality of natural wood, texture, and grain, I respect that others like their furniture sterilized with paint.
Wet Chi: Nice try, but your use of the word "sterilized" undermines your diplomacy.
The rug just barely peaking out in the photo is very cute. Where is it from?
I painted a desk and it's physically tacky... any suggestions?
I am a huge fan of all shades of yellow. I really like that pencil color and am thinking about using it for an old table I found. It would go perfect in my kitchen!
@Molly White - you can mix talc into paint and it won't be tacky. Try one more coat using this method (no precise measurements - just not so much it turns into a paste!) and see if it helps. I swiped this idea from guitar picks that have talc mixed in with the plastic to avoid slipperiness with sweaty fingers, and it has worked well for me.
I think both before and after have good points.Not a yellow I would go for, but - hey' it's their furniture! And it looks nice with the rug.
@ellenx: I think I may be right that submissioins for " Before " and "After " projects should be sent to editorial@apartmenttherapy.com
And I guess you normally don't get emailed when you don't get featured.
I guess I am right, Apartment Therapy?
Anyhow, Ellen, even IF you get featured, you very seldom hear it :-)
Have a great rest of the week.
XOXO
Bea
What an adorbale dresser...I love the yellow against the grey walls. Very fun...
It's a cute little piece before as well as after. I like the contrast of the black hardware against the yellow. The raised bit along the back reminds me of a changing table. But it's too low for that. Unique!
to answer the rug question: it's Ikea!
If I were the one doing this makeover, I would find it highly ironic that people who are commenting,"if it were me, I wouldn't have painted it at all!" bothered to waste their time clicking on this post anyway. If you don't LIKE painted furniture, what makes it necessary for you to read the article, AND comment negatively? Seriously?
Love it! Looks awesome with the rug and wall color. My bathroom vanity has a similar wood tone/grain and I'd love to refinish it someday... I love the portrait too!
@moderncountrylady- thx for the info- i will try the editorial email. i didnt even send pics, just asked them where to send the pics & nothing... hmmm... maybe pics will convince them :)
@Xander_Pal, sara01
It is the ikea alvine ruta.
It's perfect and has inspired me to PAINT a WOOD end table I have the EXACT SAME COLOR you chose. Brilliant makeover and thank you for sharing your work. Seriously, I love it. Such a happy piece now and it was definitely sad before.
I've got to clarify that point about water vs. oil based primers. On raw wood, it's better to use an oil based primer, raw wood soaks up oil based primers much better than water based primers.
And yes you can use latex paints over oil based primers, I do it all.the.time. It's not a good idea to do the reverse, don't layer oil based paints over water based primers.
Finally, when painting there is no need to sand all the stain off if you're using a bonding primer, I use and recommend Zinsser Cover Stain.
I wrote all about it here:
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/04/how-to-paint-furniture/
I like both the before and the after, would have been beautiful stained, but is also lovely in that shade of yellow.
Nice job!
Kate
So cute.
The original dresser was pretty as was the wood but quite frankly it was sort of boring looking. Depends on the decor but it could have looked really blah in your room.
I would have put new drawer pulls on it as those old ones remind me too much of drawer pulls on ugly pieces of furniture I had growing up.
@ellenx I sent in photos and they did end up featuring me but I didn't find out until a year later as they never wrote to inform me of that. So maybe you were featured but have no idea.
As far as pesty brush strokes I painted a nightstand and at first I wasn't happy that it had brush strokes on it but now that it is in use I don't even see or notice them.
Makes me feel out of sync with design - I loved the original wood. Agree with a previous comment that suggested finding a piece more in need of a fresh coat rather than hiding such pretty grain of wood. But if it makes you happy - yay!
Of course you should have you furniture as you want it, but I really like the before picture better. Love the wood (oak?) and design... I yellow makes the black handles stand out too much.
Really cute. I liked the before, but it looked a little Laura Ashley- dated so right now I prefer the after.
For all those who would have preferred it to stay unpainted, console yourselves that it can always be stripped and refinished. This isn't the kind of piece that loses value.
I've been around long enough to know that the wheel of life gives us 10-15 years or so with painted wood on top then cycles back to natural wood on top for another 10 -15 years or so.
Wet Chi:
I agree with you, in a few years what was once a classic and beautiful antique will eventually become just be another formerly trendy decorative cast-off.
Dulcibella:
You're correct that decorating trends are cyclic but stripping, sanding and refinishing vintage wooden furniture generally removes patina, decreases value, and can permanently damage the grain of the item.
It looks great!
I love the color! Well done :-)
Fascinating how trends come and go. In the late 50s early 60s-everything got painted! In late 60s through 70s we STRIPPED all the paint off wood furniture, believing painting wood was a travesty (even when we discovered bad veneers under the paint). Then, shiny plastic furniture became de rigeur. And now, we paint the wood again. It's all good. It's history. :)
oh wow. i didn't think that i would like anything more than the "before" picture, but this is beautiful!
Wow!! loved the before pic. but after seeing it painted and the contrast between the black hardware and yellow- it just floors me! what a difference! i'm impressed when someone actually picks a color, does such a through job and now really loves it!
if it were me it woulda sat there for years before i could have committed to such a project!
Bravo!! i wanna be you!!LOL
It looks great. I gotta giggle at the folks who poo poo the "keep the woodgrain" comments.
This is the fricken internet and we all have opinions. If you don't like other people's opinions, I recommend time away from the internet where you can listen to your own opinions in your head. I'm sure you'd even poo poo them.
Cute but the before looked like all it needed was a stain or gloss.
You did however do a nice job of painting.
What beautiful drawer pulls!!
can't believe you painted that... the wood was beautiful... would have looked great for someone with a more natural/rustic aesthetic.
Love the after -- well done! You really perked up a dull little dresser. It's beautiful now.
Looks great with the globe and artwork on it, too. very clean. Pencil is a good color.
In its next incarnation, it will be stripped and waxed and people will be incredulous that anyone could have painted it.
I am all for painting a piece of furniture ... when it makes it stand out or enhances it in some way. I thought, "How could you make that better? It must be really fabulous!" .... Completely underwhelmed.
Personally, I think if you paint furniture, go ahead & use some imagination & make it worth the effort. Pencil is as boring a color as it sounds ... and why would you want to have a "perfect" color to go with the walls? I am calling "Cookie Cutter" decorating on this. High gloss black or navy with different hardware would've jazzed it up .... if you absolutely had to paint it.
All of the elements in the 'after' look good; dresser, artwork, rug. I'm not sure I care for the same hardware but impressed with taking all the time and effort to re do it. Looks clean and fresh.
Another "loved the oak, sad it was painted" comment. I guess, from comments above, it is because of the era in which I came of age....maybe it is mainly generational. Yes, I've painted furniture, but only really poor paint grade wood, never nice oak like this that really didn't need much at all to shine. Some of you love nice wood furniture painted...go figure...takes all kinds, I guess. But "outdated, dark wood stain" is certainly in the eye of the beholder....the market for these items still says it would have been worth much more unpainted, though. There's a thriving market for antique and vintage oak furniture like this...for brightly painted stuff, not so much. Maybe there's food for thought in that.
@textiles
Meh, merely stained wood is "safe"; brightly painted stuff requires someone to actually have a preference. Same with rental beige walls, no?
Have to wonder why this was reposted, though?
Good grief. Why does eveyone have to tell her what they would have done? If you have one, do what you want to do. I don't undertand giving people advice when they've already done the project and .....no one asked. Every piece of wood is not holy.
I agree with Gypsymarie!
Maybe I don't understand what these blogs and comment sections are for.
I personally would have changed the knobs and refinished the wood (if it was in decent shape), but you did a great job with the paint!
Seems like a real shame to have painted that nice piece of furniture, could have stained it a really gorgeous stain color to accentuate the beautiful natural details of the wood grain.
Oh well.
This is an old post from last year.
Talk about a blatant bid for extra hits from the paint-on-wood police. LOL.
Here Here to TOO MUCH STUFF (and to GYPSY MARIE and DUANE HILL). I think the piece is adorable... Good for you!
It's really lovely - and the handles look much better with the new coat of paint.
Well done for seeing what others might not have thought of.
The handles look good with the yellow and bad with the old wood, but I would have preferred shining up the wood and replacing the handles. But, personal preference, no big deal.
That said, I', always surprised that people feel as strongly about not painting good wood as they do, but I never hear a peep about folks who strip painted pine furniture. There was a huge trend of that in the 1990s, and it always drove me crazy, because, well, pine furniture was painted to cover up the cheap soft wood to begin with. Why advertise that your furniture is made of crappy wood.
My rules (which no one but myself need follow):
Pine - paint it
Hardwood in decent shape- leave it
Hardwood beaten to heck - go ahead and paint that, too
You successfully made it look older than it looked previously. Personally, I am not a fan. They should have painted the walls a pale pale yellow, and the dresser a light grey. THAT would be beautiful. OR stained the wood, and changed the pulls, like soooo many other commenters posted.
But, to each his own I suppose.
I don't understand why on EVERY. SINGLE. wood paint makeover 50 people feel the need to post some variation on "why did you paint this? you should have restained!" This is what she wanted to do and she's happy with it. Ditto to all the other before & after projects.
In any event, great job! I really like how well the paint color contrasts with the drawer pulls. And thanks for the tips on the primer.
Some of us like wood. Some things should be painted, but this was a beauty before all the makeup.
Why "fix" something that wasn't broken? I get it when people paint an antique or vintage piece of wooden furniture that has flaws or damage from water, etc but don't get it all when someone has a great looking piece like this with a beautiful natural finish and butcher it by painting it. It's a shame.
Some of you respond to painted wood like somebody just kicked your grandma.
It's a dresser! Some people like paint! Get over it!
I didn't read all the comments but I can guess what most of them say, IMHO I would have stained this particular piece, and I am all for painting stuff, but the wood was in perfect condition for a lovely stain, which I am sure you worked very hard to get it there removing the old stain. I love the hardware you lucky duck you! it's a well executed redo though it's not what I would have done with it it looks lovely and it was well worth the effort you put into it. enjoy!!