'Many Coats of Red' Dresser

This dresser was a beast to finish.  Oh my word.  It was very average when I picked her up.  Short (having no legs), and bland.  Just a boring old ‘forget-me-please’ waterfall dresser.  It was free though, so I was determined to jazz her up.

I started by adding the legs, first I added these big chunky blocky type legs, but they stuck out too far on the sides and back, so I traded for these more delicate ones.  I then (with the help of Mr. Chuckles) added the trim on the bottom to cover up the annoying trademark waterfall dresser curve.  Lastly I filled all the holes as I knew I was going to add lots of knobs.

Ok, time to start painting.  I tested my paint, and as I feared it went on like stain (next to no coverage)  I use Dulux Diamond because it dries rock hard and has great adhesion, but Im beginning to realize that in their darker colours, the coverage is pretty paltry. If I wanted stain, Id buy stain.

So I decided to prime with a darker colour.  I custom mixed up some primer first in red (but it looked too pink), so I added some gray and it created a sort of purple/gray colour. It’ll do I thought.  The problem was that when it dried it was actually quite dark.  Consequently my ‘red’ paint when on looking more like burgundy due to the dark primer lurking underneath. 

  
In the end it took about 5 coats of red paint plus the coat of primer.  That makes for a sore wrist.  I topped her off with some black glaze and finished her up with a good sand/distressing and a coat of poly.   I think she turned out pretty well considering where she started from, but lordy, Im doubtful I will use up the rest of that red paint anytime soon.

Below is the before, you'll notice she is doing a headstand.