Antique Dresser in Grey

I love this style of dresser!  I do a little tap dance every time I see one at a reasonable price.  Ratta-tatta tat! They are so delicate and airy, and those little turned legs just warm my heart.

This gem was in pretty good shape.  She was missing a few pieces of veneer here and there, but it was nothing that a little bit of wood filler couldn't fix.  

I custom mixed up this grey using some darker grey and white paint.  I knew I wanted it to be a fairly light, almost pastel type grey.  It can be hard to eyeball it when mixing your own colours without a chip or sample to go off, but in this case, I am pretty happy with the shade.

The top was in wonderful condition apart from a few water marks.  Because of this, I gave a light coat of zinsser BIN to the top only, just to lock in that water stain.

I did three coats of the grey all over, two probably would of sufficed but just to be safe I did a third.

My grey paint is a flat, and the white was a satin, so together these two paints made the perfect sheen.  It looks a bit like chalk paint with the wax applied, a lovely, yet very soft sheen.

I love the original hardware, ornate and delicate.  Plus I LOVE ring pulls.  I decided to paint them out white though as I wanted a super romantic and soft feel.  The white contrasts great with the grey.

This is my first piece of furniture with casters.  Kinda neat, but those little suckers like to sneak away from you when they aren't planted on top of a carpet.  Miss Do-As-I-Please keeps jumping up on it for fair-ground rides.  If she wasn't a cat she would be screaming 'Yipeeeeeeeee'.  Nothing beats furniture surfing!

Here is the before, the light patches are wood filler.

All from me!




linking up to:
missmustardseed
http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com
http://www.redouxinteriors.com
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2013/09/195th-power-paint-party-popp.html

Mary Poppins' Chest

This dresser was in great shape and solid wood when I picked her up.  Even her colour wasn't that bad, a rich mahogany, but she was still in need of updating.  

I decided to go for a deep charcoal and complimented that with some black, grey & white decorative paper I had on hand.

I decided to put the paper on the bottom drawers only, as I wanted to add a 'touch of whimsy' as opposed to having a statement dresser.

The paper was so thin that it went quite crinkly when I put it on.  I actually kind of liked that as it made it look rustic.  I played with it a bit more by doing a light distressing on both the body of the dresser, and on the paper.

I sprayed the hardware with oil rubbed bronze to darken them a bit and to have them better contrast with the grey.

I call her 'Mary Poppins' Chest' because I can imagine this in Mary Poppins' bedroom filled with neatly folded linens.