Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Dresser - Done!

Hey there!
Kevin here.

Remember that $40 dresser we found at a flea market last year?



Well, it had obviously been left out in the rain (or been used as a boat at some point in time) because it had lots of water damage.

No biggie though- we were pretty positive a little primer and white paint would have it looking as good as new.

WRONG.



Turns out priming and painting it white actually made it look good as newBORN.

No joke.

It would've looked great in a baby girls room.

There was something about the curvy mirror being painted white that just didn't look rock n' roll thirtysomething enough.

We both still loved the clean-lined dresser part of it though, so we just took off the mirror and it was good to go!

(Don't worry- we saved the mirror for possible future use. Wink, wink.)



(Oh, and pay no attention to the wall color in the photo above. It's changin, 'cause you're pickin a new one for us next week!)

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As for the distressed drawer fronts- my Mrs. did those.

I'm into them 'cause they look so rock n' roll weathered.

Basically, she just coated all four drawer fronts with primer.
Then, she coated two of them with "Weston Flax" (BM).
Then she coated all four of them with "Moonlight White" (BM).

Then she went berserk on them with our electric sander.



Oh, and the reason she put Weston Flax on the top left, and the middle drawer only was...



I actually have no idea.

But I'm sure it has something to do with making them look more rock n' roll authentically old.

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We went round and round about what kind of hardware to put on this thing for a couple of weeks, but when we saw what Mary did to the bin pulls she gave us- we finally had our answer.



She took regular satin nickel pulls...



...coated them with a little primer and some Sea Salt (SW) colored paint...



...distressed them, and BOOM!

Mary only sent four pulls though, so I made a quick trip to True Value for a couple of knobs to use on the top two drawers...



Following Mary's lead, I covered them in primer...



...then painted on some Sea Salt.



Nothin' left to do but fill our drawers!



Wait.
That came out wrong.



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52 comments:

Unknown said...

Lookin' good!

Rupert St. said...

Love it! Great post kevin :)

The Grandy's said...

Ha ha. This post made me laugh out loud. Kevin's a funny one. I guess you'll just have to reattach the mirror when you guys have to do a nursery.

Mothership said...

Awesome. Love the sound effects. You can always tell a music man because they HAVE to have a sound track.

Yanet @ 3 Sun Kissed Boys said...

Wow, the weathered drawers look awesome!!! I'm totally doing that to one of my dressers.

Missy said...

love it! And yes...we don't really want to know how you fill your drawers! lol.

So Sunny Day said...

wow! I can't believe that is the same piece. Did you distress the rest of the dresser with the sander or by hand? And the fillin the drawers comment - loved it!

~Emily N. from "too Blessed to Stress"

Julianna Farmer said...

You're funny (just like your wife)! I bet you two are a riot on a double date!

Livy said...

OK. You have to check out my antique dresser. It looks almost identical to yours (http://makingovermum.blogspot.com/2010/08/decorating-nursery.html).

Funny you should mention it looking fit for a baby girl's room because that is exactly where we put ours.

I like what you did with yours, but I'm keeping the curvy mirror on mine (at least as long as it remains in the nursery anyways).

Ali @ Honey and Maple Syrup said...

It looks great! And I love the sound effects!

Between You and Me said...

kevin....you ROCK and roll! great job on the post....you and layla are beyond an inspiration in SO MANY WAYS beyond this blog and decorating that house of yours.....

Crissy said...

lovely! it is beautiful w/o the mirror. can't wait to see what use you find. :) love the humor.

Kim-A Creative Spirit said...

Layla and Kevin... I LOVE it... not sure I would be as brave to give it that "rock and roll" look but it would look at home in my house either way... Can I have it???? hehe

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

This is awesome - I love how you are not afraid to make mistakes - you just go for it!

Janet- OPEN MARKET STYLE said...

I SO LOVE YOUR BLOG LAYLA I LOVE HOW EASY AND LAID BACK IT IS SO MUCH FUN !! THANK YOU FOR MAKING ME SMILE AND FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL IDEAS YOU GIVE !!
AND THAT DRESSER ROCKS !!!!!
WARMLY
JANET

Simply LKJ said...

Ha! Great post!! Love how it turned out. We too had a similar style dresser my mil handed down...it was painted all cutesy white for our 1st daughter's nursery with the mirror, but now it has been stripped down, the mirror put away for another day and found a new home in our family room! There is a picture of it in my latest post, House Tour Part 1.

Katie said...

beautiful! i am going to try to whitewash a coffee table i found on the side of the road.

Honey said...

I have a VERY similar dresser, but my mirror is more square. Most be for a baby boys room! :D

And I think it's a little bigger. It still has the original color to it... it has skinnier legs, tapered, really, and little wheels on the bottom. The easier to move it with?!

We are going to be looking at doing a makeover on it shortly... to fit our new space. Will have to send pics! :D

Cute post by cute Kevin! :D

Jessi said...

I love this so much! You have such a great blog with great ideas. Now I really want to change up our home!

Unknown said...

Great post. So it's hard to tell, so I'll google it to find out exactly what color sea salt is??
Love the new look!

These Are The Days said...

That's a fabulous dresser. I like the mirror too.

Ms. Amber D said...

Love how the drawer fronts are " more distressed than the sides, very cool :) Great post Kevin! ~ Amber

Maggie said...

Kevin should post more often! Too funny!

Sarah Lynne said...

Love the dresser!

Isabel said...

I usually LOVE everything you do, but this time, sorry, I think I preferred the water damage effect. If it were my dresser, I would probably sand it down by hand, just enough to tame the raw wood, give it a good wax rubbing, paper the inside of the drawers and put in antique glass knobs.
I think the faux distressed look came out too contrived. And because I know you guys have great taste, I am sure Layla attacked the drawers because she preferred the dresser the way it was before.
I have nothing against painted furniture, most of the time it comes out great, but I have been seeing a lot of perfectly nice wooden furniture with a great patina that only time can impart that is completely ruined by some distressed paint effect or other. Sometimes less is more. I don't know, maybe at this point you should repaint it in a nice dove gray, just slightly distressed around the edges, with other pulls, more dresser and less office or kitchen. I truly hope you don't mind my saying this. The post, however, especially the ending, was wonderful.

Tracey said...

Oh my, you were crackin' me up on this post. Looks great and hope you get to use that mirror very soon in a baby girls room :)

Screaming Meme said...

Funny...a client and I went junking around town...and found a similar dresser with mirror...We left the mirror and took the dresser...$25...thank you verrra much! lol

Layla, after talking to you last night...I am kicking it up a notch! ;)

And going Screaming Meme on myself! I am writing an Ebook! I am so super excited about this! Fill you in later! Stop by and look at my client's paint choices! It is a gorgeous home too boot! Hugs, Meme

Holly @ Roller Coaster Life said...

Is the "possible future use wink wink" telling us something important!??!??!!?

It's a Baltimore Life said...

Awesome!! And yes I am very interested in this "wink wink"

Yall are so fabulous...I love the blog and read it everyday!!

Michaela said...

the dresser is awesome!

Janell @ House of Fifty said...

Funny...and the dresser is just fabulous! Janell

Lemonade Makin' Mama said...

I love it!! I love painting knobs. I think everything in life should be painted. :)

Jo said...

Gorgeous dresser! I love both the before and the after. The bin pulls look perfect.

Anonymous said...

I am watching you closely because I just purchased an antique vanity that is much like the one in your guest room. Not sure what I'm doing with it yet or what room it will end up in.
With all this talk of fried pickles and ranch sauce, humpty dumpty lamps, baby bureaus and filling your drawers...makes one wonder what was cooking in that dining room?!

Your Friend,
Deborah

Lettered Cottage said...

HA HA Deborah! :-D

No little ones in our near future.
Got lotsa growing up ourselves first! LOL!

We would love to adopt one day though!

Layla

Anonymous said...

Very funny post Kevin! Lots of talk about (BM) and filling your drawers...lol

Dresser turned out great btw!

Cindy

Cheryl said...

What a treat to stop by this evening and read a post by Kevin. You two are a hoot. y'all have a great sense of humor. Love the look of the dresser and the pulls.

Carol said...

I thought this post was good until I read the "drawers" crack... then I found it hilarious. Seriously, I laughed until I cried and I couldn't even explain to my husband for the longest. This post should be titled, "Supervision Required: Men & Blogging."

Made my day!

Laura Lynn said...

Love it!
This reminds me of my daughter's dresser that I bought for her when she was 4. She's 15 now and it's still in her room but she loves it. It has a curved front and all but the drawer fronts were given a finish like that. It was what caught my eye. That and the long, oval mirror and harp!
I'll have to send you a photo some time!

Valerie@chateaualamode.typepad.com said...

Love what you've done! Love the distressing!

Unknown said...

great blog kevin! ya did good! i think that mirror would look really lovely in a little half bath..do you have one? OR in an entry way..OR the end of a hall way..OR .............
now! go fill those drawers!!! :^)

Beth said...

Agree with Isabel. It was totally gorgeous before the paint job. Now, it looks OKAY, not as great as the original pre-painted dresser, but just OKAY. Also are the drawer pulls seem crooked? That would drive me nuts! Plus, they kind of look 'off' with the whole dresser.

I dunno. Please don't take that the wrong way. Honestly, this is the first time I've probably disagreed with your design decisions. So, I suppose this little criticism comes with a compliment!

L.Duncan@Home23DuncanBoys said...

This dresser turned out great guys! I love both: the before and the after!

Kevin, you "ROCKED" this post dude!

L.Duncan@Home23DuncanBoys said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

So first time poster here, and I have been reading and loving your blog for a while.. your house is beautiful and definitely an inspiration in a lot of design decisions I've been making in my own home!

BUT - I truely dislike what you guys did to what was a gorgeous aged dresser... I agree with Isabel as well and think just a little fixin' up and a wax or even an oil rubbed finish would have been perfect... not diggin' the "distressed" drawer fronts at all! I'm sure you guys will make it look good with everything you design around it, but boy did it make me cringe to see the after when the before was so great...

looking forward to a new post with a design that inspires me all over agian!

Deserae said...

Looks great! Can't wait to see it in the room now :o)
~Des

stefanie said...

the drawer fronts are perfect...they look like they took years to do that!!!! love it..

Lauren said...

Aww use the mirror now!!! I miss it. <3

Jen@TheOldBlueChair said...

First off, let me say that I LOVE the look you were going for and obviously, you guys were the only ones who could see IRL the extent of the damage to the dresser in it's original form but in the "before" pictures, it looks so darn pretty as is! Love what you did with the drawer pulls, though!

Jen@TheOldBlueChair said...

First off, let me say that I LOVE the look you were going for and obviously, you guys were the only ones who could see IRL the extent of the damage to the dresser in it's original form but in the "before" pictures, it looks so darn pretty as is! Love what you did with the drawer pulls, though!

justjude said...

BIG SMILE for my day - thanks kevin

LisaMarie said...

I really like how this turned out!! Sounds like a lot of hard work went into it!! But it paid off cause this dresser is rockin' LOL Have a great weekend!!