Refinished Dresser...Oh MY!

On July 6th, I embarked on refinishing a dresser.  Here's the before & after.

My coworker, Melanie, saw it on facebook, and knew I was looking for something similar for our bedroom.  I am moving a dresser and nightstand from our bedroom to the nursery, so I needed something to replace those items.  I didn't care what color it was because I knew I wanted to paint it.  I just wanted a certain style.  She saw this, and it was exactly what I wanted.  We went and picked it up Memorial Day weekend, but I didn't get around to refinishing it until now.

I don't know who introduced me to Wonderland & Company's facebook page, but I'm sure glad they did.  W&C is run by a lady that lives in Pittsburg and sells a paint called plaster paint.  This paint is made by The Plaster Paint Company out of Claremore, Oklahoma.  (Side Note: Every time I say "Claremore" I think of Roger & Hammerstein's Oklahoma.  Random.)  I did some research before I used it.  The paint is made in the U.S.A., has no VOCs, and is completely green.  All of this means that pregnant women can safely use it.  To make everything even better, you do not have to sand or strip the existing finish.  Yay!  Sign me up!  I had perused Pinterest looking for my inspiration for the color scheme of this piece.  I found this photo and knew it was the color scheme I wanted to do.

I bought a pint of the Espresso and a quart of the Seaside.  I also bought the Liquid Wax sealer.  You have to seal the paint otherwise it scratches off very easily.  I also got two natural bristle brushes at B&S.  The FAQ said to use non-nylon, bristle brushes, so that's what I got.

I can say, I should have finished this project in a day, but I was not as prepared as I should have been.  

I started the morning off by taking off the hardware.  The bottom drawers had these pulls that I knew I wanted to replace.  When I took them off, I realized they were 2-inch holes...not good.  I've bought lots of hardware since buying our house, and I never see 2-inch hardware, it's all 3-inch.  After using Amazon and Google and the trusty Jim's Discount Cabinet Hardware, I thought I'd have to just refinish the existing hardware and make it work.  However, my husband is awesome and said, "Just go get some wood filler and fill in one of the holes.  We can either drill new holes to use 3-inch handles, or you can just use knobs."  Perfect!  However, I then had to go get wood filler.  I ran up to B&S, got the wood filler, went home and filled in the holes, and had to wait two hours to paint the drawers because the filler had to dry completely.  I went ahead and started painting the top of the dresser while those dried though.  If it hadn't been for this step, I believe I could have finished this project in one day.

This paint is awesome and dries very quickly!  I accidentally got some of the Espresso paint on the part of the dresser I was going to paint Seaside.  I didn't notice until it was already dry.  But, it was removed very simply by using a flat head screw driver and scratching the paint off.  It came off and didn't leave any residue. :)  The paint dried so quickly that I was able to do three coats back to back.  I painted in one direction the first time, the opposite direction the second time, and the original direction the third time.  I had read during my research that doing it that way would help minimize brush marks.  This was after three coats of Espresso paint.

Once the wood filler had completely dried, I brought the drawers outside and started painting the Seaside.  This is after one coat of Seaside.

This is after the second coat of Seaside.  This also dried quickly enough that I was able to paint them back to back.  I painted this in the same order I painted the Espresso.  First coat I painted one direction and the second coat I painted the opposite direction.  I didn't paint a third coat because I didn't think it needed it.

Husband dropped by the house and said that the top looked too perfect and that I needed to rough it up a bit.  After doing some more research, I read that you can distress this paint using a wet Scotch sponge.  I used the green side and just rubbed in random spots to remove some of the paint.  It worked perfectly, and I didn't have to go find sandpaper!

This is after one coat of the Liquid Wax sealer.  I knew I wanted to add a "wash" over the Seaside portion of the dresser with some stain I had, but I was worried about applying it directly to the paint.  The paint has almost a chalkboard type finish before you seal it.  I was afraid it would absorb the stain right up.  I decided I'd do a layer of sealer, stain then seal it once more.

The instructions on W&C facebook page says to let the sealer dry one hour before applying a second coat.  It was dinner time, and we were headed to Longview.  I had to finish the project the next day.

I took a rag, dipped it in some leftover Rustoleum stain I had from a different project, and just rubbed it directly on top of the wax.  I wiped off as much as I could until I got the desired effect.  I wore my kitchen rubber gloves during this part so I wouldn't get any of the stain on my hands.  It was so hot, my hands were completely wet once I took the gloves off.  Ick.  As soon as I was done with stain, I sealed it once more.  I replaced the old hardware with knobs I found at Wal-Mart.  And voila!  The new dresser in our bedroom is complete!

I'll definitely be using Plater Paint again.  As long as this dresser holds up well over the next month, I'll be buying at least 2 quarts of "Old Red" to do the dressers for Brayden's nursery.  Nick's chest of drawers could use a fresh coat of paint, and I'm thinking the rest of the Seaside may go to use there.  It would help tie the pieces together.  We'll see!