Before and After: A boys dresser, refinished/painted, DONE!

I was so thrilled with how my twin girls’ shabby chic dresser turned out that I decided to do it again! 

If you missed that post, see it HERE! It looks so cute in their girly room.

 

Last weekend I finished my son's dresser, and today I was a little less annoyed sooooo happy as I put the laundry away!

 

I got this dresser for free from a friend who found it beside a dumpster.  It's solid wood with a great style, perfect for a boy's room. 

 



I love the detail work.

It has this great old school coin tray in the top drawer.

And a drawer divider in one drawer.

Too much character to wind up in a dumpster if you ask me!

 

First I sanded it with an electric sander.  I know there are many primers out there that claim you don't need to sand, and you probably don't...but I just feel better starting from bare wood.  Plus, it's fun to use the electric sander.

 

After sanding, I applied one coat of Zinsser Smart Prime with a Purdy brush.  Did you know you can prime with white paint even if you are using a DARK color on top?  Well, you can!

 

I have tried every combination of brush/foam roller/foam brush...rolling on and following with one brush stroke, rolling on following with a smooth foam brush, etc.  After trial and error, I always come back to my Purdy brushes.  So I did this dresser entirely with a brush.

I chose Benjamin Moore's Kensington Blue for the main portions of the dresser:

and Benjamin Moore's Edgecomb Gray for the trim work and top:

 

 

I painted all my blue areas first and didn't bother taping off the parts that would be gray since I knew it would take way longer to tape than it would to just paint another coat of gray to cover the blue!

 

I did 2 coats of the blue.

 

Once the blue was dry, I taped onto the blue so I could paint the gray trim. 

The taping took 2 hours!

I painted 3 coats of gray on the trim (I needed to cover all the blue, remember!)  But after how long the taping took, I was sure glad I didn't try taping prior to that.

 

Did you know there are 2 kinds of blue tape?  There's blue tape and then there's BLUE TAPE.  There's a new blue tape by Scotch that is called Edge Lock and it is supposed to be guaranteed not to bleed.  That's what I used.

And then there's Frog Tape.  Have you tried this yet?  I haven't, just read about it.  It's supposed to be GREAT!  Let me know if you try.

 

With anything textured, bleeding is almost inevitable. 

Here's two tricks I know of to help you get

straight lines on textured surfaces:

 

-after applying tape, paint over the tape with the color that is UNDER the tape first...that way when it bleeds under, it will be the color you WANT under there, and it will fill the holes under the tape.  Then once that dries, paint over with the color you want next to the tape and it can't bleed under the tape since the previous color already filled the holes.

 

-use silicone caulk where you want your line, let it dry. paint, let dry.  remove caulk.

 

I pulled the tape off while the paint was still damp.  This is so important so you don't risk peeling the paint (if it does dry, you can always score it with a razor blade...don't skip this step!)  I pulled the tape down and away at a 45 degree angle.  I tried to take a picture to explain, not sure if it helps.

I think I got pretty good lines.

 

After removing all the tape, I added new hardware.  I chose some modern looking brushed nickel pulls and knobs.  And now it's DONE!

 

 

Did I say I was going for the Art Deco look?  Well, I wasn't.  Ooops. 
So I have to admit, it didn't come out quite the way I envisioned.  I think it's beautiful and am happy with it, but I think for my son's room I was kinda thinking of a slightly darker blue and maybe not quite so much "Art Deco" detail!!  Maybe just solid navy.  You know, Pottery Barn Kids Navy.

 

You just might see this dresser again...........perhaps in a posting titled:

 

"After the After, A boys dresser repainted again, DONE for sure this time!"

 

Unless I just sell it and start again.

 

For now, it made laundry day so much more pleasant for me and

my son loves it! 

Really, that's all that matters.

 

Next project:  I need to pick a new paint color for his walls.  His room gets very little light and always feels so dark.  Gotta lighten it up.  Any suggestions for a great light neutral color for a boy's room?

 

I'm linking up at ThrifyDecorChick's Before/After Party!



and Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party!