Getting a Pewter Look on Hardware

Just a couple of materials and a few simple steps is all it takes. 

I have done this look on a couple of different dressers now. It all began with the beautiful dresser below. 

 I had previously refinished this dresser in turquoise (HERE) and was over-the-moon to find the exact same gorgeous dresser in excellent vintage condition. It has wonderful raised detailing and I added the legs to give it extra height.

There was nothing wrong with the hardware in its original state, but it was so dark that it was difficult to appreciate all the ornate carved detailing.  Lightening it up and glazing it really highlights all of that beautiful craftsmanship.

I drew inspiration from a technique I have used on some old candlesticks to get a 'pewter' looking finish. This candlestick used to be glossy red and it really suited the Japanese inspired furnishings of the house I shared in Sydney (yep, I brought these guys all the way home to Canada), but I gave them new life to fit in with the decor of my new digs.

I washed the hardware well using baking soda and vinegar to get the gunk off.  I noticed this did leave a film on the hardware after it dried (probably a chemical reaction) and so I gave all the pieces of hardware a good sanding. Just to give you an idea of the finish. The middle is the original finish, the left is after I sanded/buffed it to a soft gold, and the right shows the residue post soaking. 

I sanded all the hardware really well in order to promote good adhesion for the spray paint.  This was the most time consuming and unpleasant step.  I wore a mask to prevent any of those nasty particles tainting my pristine nostrils. I want to be able to taste my Honeycombs after all.

Next up was silver spray paint.  I used Krylon in a gloss finish.  I did about three coats with 20-30 minutes of dry time between coats. Although the hardware looked great after this step, it really lacked the depth that the glaze provided.

I let the paint dry for a couple of days and kept myself busy doing other things before glazing.  For the glaze I mixed together Martha Stewart glazing medium with some black paint. That's actually an old herbs bottle I mixed it up in. A little of the glaze goes a-l-o-n-g way.

I wiped on the glaze with a dry paper towel and then used a damp cloth to hastily wipe it back off.  I didn't over wipe as I wanted the glaze to gather into the grooves of the detailing and create a darker shadow.  If there were any areas I felt were too dark I just worked the damp cloth a little more.

The picture above shows the difference in steps.  Starting on the right you can see the plate with spray paint, the middle is what it looked like when I covered with glaze, and the left is the end result after the glaze was wiped off.

I allowed the glaze to dry overnight before I sealed everything with a few spray coats of polyacrylic.  I used a satin finish, but I did find that it dulled the finish down to more of a matte finish.  I would definitely consider using a gloss polyacrylic spray for the next time to encourage a bit more luster.

The end result makes a stunning contrast with the white paint of the dresser. You can see another example of where I used this technique below.

It really is amazing how much of a transformation you can make with a little paint, a little imagination, and a little effort. Magic!

If you have any tips for hardware transformations please leave a comment or a link!

Ornate White Dresser

Believe it or not, I have done this exact same dresser before (here)!  About a year ago I found and fell in love with this dresser and painted it a turquoise/blue

So when I saw the same dresser again, I snapped it up super fast!

I decided to paint this one out white, which was very similar to a similar style of dresser I painted (here) which also had beautiful hardware.  I used a pure white and did many coats. I absolutely adore the vertical hardware, and the ornate raised detailing.

Getting the paint into all of that raised detailing took ALOT of work!  I think each drawer took about 8 minutes to paint per coat!  Very time consuming, but the end result looks great.

I custom added the legs, which is something I didn't do to the other version of this dresser I did.  I love the extra height it gives.  The dresser now stands at over 35" tall.  I like the extra versatility it gives, as it no longer looks only like a dresser.  It could easily be used in another room.

I used a technique on the hardware to get a pewter type of look by spray painting with silver and than glazing with black.  It contrasts nicely with the white.

Lots of pictures, I know!

There are six drawers, all very large.  I love that when they are closed you almost think they are cupboards, than you open up and go 'wow, these are drawers not cupboards!'  Very exciting.  ;)

Here is a close up of the hardware, all the blackish bits are where the glaze really got into the grooves and divots.

And of course, the before! I remembered to snap a pic.

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Contemporary-meets-Vintage

This dresser took me to the brink and back.  I was nearly ready to pack in my paint brushes for good.  I cant be certain, but Im think it took me about 15-20 hours to refinish.  Way tooooo long.  Oh my word. This is the dresser I said I was going to pop a bottle of bubbly when she was all done.  Yep, it was that bad.  I needed alchohol in a big way at the end of this project.

That is what she looked like before.  She wasnt bad, but I knew I wanted to go for a contemporary - meets - vintage vibe, and those swirly little details and pipe-shaped wooden pulls were not going to cut the mustard.

Although I think she turned out great.  I am not so sure it was worth all the trouble.  Being honest here.

Ok, so lets talk 'steps' in this transformation.  First, we stripped the top down (to read about this experience click 'here'). Then we sanded smooth with the orbital, as well as sanding the rest of the dresser.

Secondly we had to fill all the holes on the drawers, there were 6 on each drawer.  This took two coats of wood filler, with sanding between each coat.

Because I opted to remove the Nike 'swooshes', I had a lot of little nail holes to fill.  These were finicky! Every time I thought I had them perfectly sanded, I would prime and do a coat of paint, only to realize that I could still see the holes.  I filled them three times before I was happy.  

I bought new hardware, I knew I wanted something that was gold, simple, contemporary yet still vintage.

I restained the top in a custom mix featuring walnut with some orangey hues.  I was surprised that the top didn't go as dark as I expected.  But I actually like the lightness of it as it shows the grain nicely.  I protected with tung oil and a coat of paste wax.

Initially I left the inside of the cupboard door white, but I wasn't happy with it, so I modpodged on some gray/white contemporary paper for a little bit of interest and 'wow' factor.

I had to change out the legs too.  The back legs were great, but the front legs had this weird diamond shape to them.  I wanted simple and clean lines, so they simply wouldn't do.  Four new legs please.

Big exhale here. I don't mean to whinge, but man, this girl was a lot more work than I anticipated!  I am treating myself by doing a quick and easy dresser next with lots of rustic character to it.  Cant wait!  White is so time consuming.  I did two coats of primer, and 4 coats of paint!

Off to drink the champers now!