Dresser Makeover

Leave it to me to take on more than I can handle.  This is my first real make over of any furniture.  So what did I decide to do?  Well, I decided to take all my bedroom furniture and an armoire out to my garage and paint them all at once.  At the time of the decision, it made sense.  They all needed to be primed and most pieces were being painted the same color.  And on top of it all, I decided to blog about it. I made a promise to myself a few months ago that good or bad, I was going to blog my results of things I tried. Ouch!

One of my  first pins on pinterest was this one from Censational Girl.

I must have pinned it the first time about a year ago. I say the first time because I have pinned it several times since then.  (You know that awkward moment when you just finished pinning 4 or 5 things only to discover that what you were looking at was one of your own boards, so you basically repinned yourself?  yeah been there, done that)
So this is the first piece that is complete.  I know, I know very Martha Stewart like.  I didn't even realize it until I put in the drawers. (You may have noticed that we also painted the walls...finally.  After 7 years of the same builder off white, we committed to Maison Blanche from Sherwin Williams.)

I followed Censational Girls advice and used her technique.

I first removed the handles and filled the holes with Elmers all purpose wood filler and sanded it.

(Yes, I was scared when I saw my drawers in this state). I am not sure if it is suppose to look this bad at this point, but YOLO!!!.    Once I did this I primed my with Zinsser red can (yeah  just look for the red can.  It comes in red, gold and blue and Censational girl prefers gold then red but we only have red in the local stores).

Now, I do not know if they are suppose to look so smooth but there they are. (Can you see all the pieces of furniture back there?  I count eight drawers in this shot alone. I primed each piece twice, sanding between coats.

After priming, I painted the dresser Swimming from Sherwin Williams and I don't remember the white color but it is a pure white. I'll update this post when I find it.  After painting, I used Minwax  Polycrylic in Clear Gloss but my husband didn't think it was glossy enough so we sprayed it Lacquer High Gloss clear from Rustoleum.  It gave it a little shine but not like we wanted it.  After further review and research, ok so one day while mesmerized by Pinterest, I discovered this pin.

Source Apartment Therapy

So my next project will use this paint from Benjamin Moore. It is a water based paint that acts like an oil...who knew?

Then came the scary part....I had to drill holes for the new knobs. I have a tutorial for that also.  I love the knobs I found at Home Depot from Martha Stewart.  They are substantial. That is to say, they are heavy and feel like quality pieces.

And yes, I did discover after I put the drawers in the dresser that the knobs are not center on the vertical but only on the horizontal.  I measured them 6 inches from the bottom of each drawer, per a suggestion in my research. I think they should be center...oh well.

 Maybe it is more Tiffany Blue?  I have more pieces to finish and share.