apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'd go with the dark expresso color - keeping in with the rest of your furniture.

White! It'll really bring out the beautiful lines of that dresser and both contrast and compliment your other decor.

Why don't you do both and use a colored stain. I love the look of a green or blue stained piece of furniture indoors. You could even do different shades mixed to customize it to your green room. It can be subtle or it can pop depending on how much stain you use.

I would bring in some of the blue or green shades from your livingroom. If it's an entranceway it might be a little dark and if you have a view into the livingroom, painting it the greens or blues would pull it all in together! Just a thought!

a red gloss would be HOT!

Go pop. White or Espresso on that shape could look a bit grandma's panties. I would paint it an aqua or Tiffany blue which would work with your floors, wall color and other decor.

a dark green wood stain would look lovely.

I would not go espresso like the rest of your furniture or any other wood stain - too boring and it will start to look like a piece from a cheap bedroom set if the whole house is the same. This needs a pop, especially in the entryway where there will not be a lot else going on and it is the first chance to draw your guests in and grab their attention. Don't know what your style is like but white would be great and look awesome with that beautiful gray wall and those white baseboards. Either creamy/grayish white with distressed edges or even a more glossy white with some cool knobs depending on which way your style leans. Or any other color - your greens and blues would work and shavaval's colored stain idea might be a unique way to get a more subtle pop.

I'm with Henry Ford on this: any color, so long as it's black. Gloss black.

Since you've gone to the trouble of sanding it down to the wood I would say stain it. In a few years you can always paint over the stain if you need a change.

I think you could go a number of different ways, depending on what feel you want. I love the idea of an aqua, but I also like the idea of white. If you want to go bold, a gloss black (or even red!) would really bring out the drama. Do you have knobs for it or are you going to replace them? Find your knobs first, look at the room, and decide what would give it that 'pop' you're looking for, but still tie in nicely with the room.

If you go with a colored stain, I think that piece could look less contemporary and a bit more country (imho). But if you like that, then go for it!

call me crazy, but i think it looks really cool as is. in the right loft space, it would look awesome. I agree with others that you've put in all that effort and done a great job getting it down to the wood, so preserve some of that grain using a stain.

I don't think I'd do white because it could end up looking like a "French Provincial" dresser from a little girls' bedroom.

...and I wouldn't go espresso or black since everything else is the same - it would look a little matchy/drab.

I think I'd choose a glossy teal, or lime green with brass drop bail handles, and pick up that same color in artwork, pillows, lamps, accessories, etc for a cohesive appearance.

The new trend is to paint vintage pieces with hot colors in a high gloss finish and use silver or gold wax to highlight curves and outlines. I just re-painted a small bedside French chest (a $60 steal) for my 20-year old daughter in a intense electric blue and we used a small tube of silver wax ($3) to highlight the curves of the legs and top, then we sprayed it with high gloss polyurethane. We also purchased a hot raspberry red paint from Behr to use for another piece. We got the idea from liv-chic.com. Go to the site and scroll down to view the painted French chests. Other chests we found ranged from $500-$10,000! We also bought the Lisette chest from JC Penney outlet online for $300 and we left the color black, added the silver wax to the top and legs which I then used a hairdryer on inch by inch to heat the wax and then buffed it to give an aged appearance. Then I decoupaged an oval shaped piece of scrapbook paper on the front to make it more contemporary. After just 2 hours we had a really updated piece!

I would definitely go with a plum color paint with a clear gloss lacquer over it. Plum/ purple hues go really well with the red tones in your flooring and compliment green and espresso colors throughout your home. The dresser is so cool and has refined, soft lines. Plum is sophisticated and offers a gentle pop that will make the piece stand out yet still be cohesive with the rest of your decor. Good luck!

stain! or leave it as is and just seal it? I love all of the variation of wood grains you exposed in sanding it down.

I vote for a deep well applied orange paint. It looks like one of the drawers is a replacement, so staining wouldn't work.

Turquoise! Turquoise! Turquoise!

I know. don't hate me.

When the trend wears away...again, sand and repaint!

Another thought: go for liming wax to enhance the look it has now. Metal hardware in that case.

Ballet slipper pink. With small flowers and leaves stenciled on, and sparingly eyelash thin wisps of silver paint to twinkle. And a gorgeous vase of flowers.

I think a sunny yellow would really pop against the gray walls and separate the space from the living room.

This piece is screaming for a pop color for sure - but one that you love and would like to live with for a long time (unless you REALLY love sanding furniture and wouldn't mind doing it again down the road).

Use a medium to darker hued color so it holds up with all of your dark wood.

Muted yellow, blue/grey, chartreuse, any of those would be fab!

It would look fresh and cool if you painted the draw fronts gloss white and stained the body white. Essentially 2 tones of white but with grain in the body. Black hardware on the drawers will make it look modern.

We used a color called Venezuelan Sea from Benjamin Moore on some old dressers we found in my husband's parents' basement. It's a deep ocean blue that, for whatever reason, goes with everything.

I think it would look beautiful with your cherry floors and might tie in with the blues and greens in your living room.

http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Benjamin-Moore-2054-30-Venezuelan-Sea-p/mpc0004398.htm

Stain it dark. If that replacement drawer won't take a stain like everything else, maybe paint the drawers a color?

I also love it as is. Why not give it a little wax and some cool hardware?

After all the work of sanding - stain! You can probably get a veneer to help the one drawer match better. If you don't like the stain, then you could paint, but not vice versa, at least not easily!

I would paint it one of three colors:

Red- If you have animal print (ideally zebra) accents
Teal/Tiffany blue- Goes GREAT with dark woods
Ivory/off-white- Very classy and consevative, but will POP.

I just painted my buffet cabinet glossy candy-apple red, and it looks fantastic (the previous color was a dark mahogany stain).

I think your dresser would really pop in pink or aqua. If you go for white, consider black or bright-colored trim, or some interesting drawer pulls.

Awesome. I read this because I have the exact same question (except that I will be using my dresser as a media cabinet to hold hubby's way too big tv) and still, there are a bajillion different opinions.

I was actually thinking (tell me if this is awful) of painting it either an awesome color or black then wallpapering the front of the drawers in a cool print.

I vote for a redish orange color or the tiffany blue. IT would look stunning in contrast with the grey wall you have on that pic and the other dark furniture. It also contrasts well the blues and greens you mentioned, forming a harmony that not many can imagine.

Farrow and Ball Dix Blue lacquer paint is so beautiful its a soft pale robin's egg blue that would compliment dark wood.

Then add some simple brass hardware.


I am painting a piece I found and I am loving this color.

I like most of the suggestions. Now, you will just have to pick the one that most lines up with your decor and personal taste. Please post the 'after' results! I bet it will be wonderful.

so, I was going to sarcastically post that you paint it either glossy white or bright turquoise to keep with the AT standards, but...

espresso, not eXpresso. so sorry to be "that commenter", it's just one of my biggest pet peeves.

that cleared up, I say leave it natural. it's gorgeous wood and keeping it looking raw would keep it current, but it'd marry well with any other type of decor (mid century, contemporary, regency, etc).

go for some ornate vintage hardware and keep the dresser as-is.

I also like it how it is, especially with that one white drawer.

What about OSMO oil? A bit like keeping it like it is, but with some protection for the wood. And then fancy knobs, to bring the whole look up a little.

Just a thought - if you kept the grain visible by varnishing it, then did diagonally alternating drawers (to hide that white replacement) with mirrored or otherwise fabby self-adhesive stuff?

So, top right (carve out the raised motif for extra fun, and have the wood showing through), then replacement on the mid-left, then bottom right too.

This is more by way of brainstorming than actual advice though - I'm usually clueless!

Since the front of all the drawers are different, i think paint is the only actual option. Dark furniture and cherry floors mean you're definetely into a more classic mood. And since paint is the most logical way, i would go with deep red gloss, not firefighter red, but the darker intense red of chinese lacquer. then with the pull you can really go worldly, from classic brass styles to black silk tassles, leather, crystal, you name it!

Please don't paint it white.

Please stain it green or blue or a bright yellow. That way you get the grain, and the colour pop, and haven't wasted a sanding by slathering it up in that "white paint covers all sins!" mentality.

WHITE of course!

Delikatissen

Here's an idea from left field: how about staining and varnishing all of the wood except for that one white drawer, which you could do in a glossy fire engine red (or another bold colour)? That way you get your "pop" even though the overall impression of the piece is natural wood (and thus classier than those teal or white monstrosities).

If you absolutely must paint the whole thing, go with QuirkyLiving's suggestion of a deep, dark plum. Of all the options I think it's the most sophisticated.

"They call me mellow yellow..."

I would take a look at the white attic in Andersonville (or their new store in Bucktown) if you're a Chicagoan or online at www.thewhiteattic.com I've always loved their modern refinishing for vintage furniture

leave it.

Orange-bright orange