When designing Emma Grace’s nursery one of the things I knew for certain was I wanted a one of kind piece in her room. Although I do love crisp modern design I also have a place in my heart for soft lines. As soon as we found out we were having a girl I knew I wanted to give her a modern style girly nursery but I wanted it to be soft and welcoming. Although Jeremy doubted me at first because I had narrowed down my dresser choices to two…
the MALM 6 Drawer Dresser from IKEA with a some sort of graphic overlay on the drawers
OR
a French Provencal style dresser. Yeah I know not my style at all but when I saw several of these pieces painted in fun colors
I was sold! So I decided on pink and white. Yes bold but with the rest of the furniture in the room being white and a soft grey backdrop on the walls I knew it was doable. So I searched Craigslist for weeks to find a dresser that would work. Then I found it! For less than $60 I was the proud new owner of a fantastic dresser. (Okay a side note we did drive almost 2 hours both ways for it in our truck so if you figure in gas it was a bit more! 🙂 )
The first thing we did was take all the hardware off and lightly sanded down the entire dresser. I then taped off the drawers and took them outside to prime.
One of the things that I love about painting furniture is our paint gun. A couple years back we invested in a paint gun and it was SO worth the money. With it Jeremy (not pregnant me!) was able to spray down the dresser and all the drawers relatively quickly and with a perfectly smooth finish.
I used Zinsser’s Bulls Eye 1-2-3 water based primer and it works like a dream! I love RustOleum products and I’ve tried many different primers and this one is by far my favorite. It dries quick, has great adhesion, a very low odor and it levels out really well! So after Jeremy finished priming everything I gave it all one more sand down with a fine steel wool. This gave us a super smooth finish to work with. We then painted over all the pieces with the same paint I used to paint her closet which was Behr Premium Plus Ultra Paint and Primer in One.
The color is called “Invitation to a Princess” by Disney for Behr. It is the perfect shade of pink and matched her bedding perfectly! After we got two smooth layers down it was time to start painting the trim. Originally I tried to tape off the edges but it didn’t take long to realize that it wasn’t going to work. So…a little itty bitty brush and I had a date for the next couple WEEKS…for HOURS and HOURS on end! By the time I finished the first coat I thought I was going to die but I persevered and it was worth every last paint stroke! I sealed the entire dresser and the front and sides of each of the drawers in Minwax’s Gloss Polycrylic.
Now let me tell you this stuff is awesome! We go through this stuff by the gallons at our house with our cornhole boards. It goes on super smooth and dries nice and hard. It takes a couple of days to completely harden so right before we left to go tot the hospital we put the drawers in the dresser but didn’t close them all the way and by the time we got home with little missy they were perfect. So I’ve made you wait long enough…I present to you…the pride and joy of my DIY nursery…
Did I mention we got a matching mirror with the package too? Eeekk!!
My favorite part of the make over (other than ALL of those beautiful white details of course) was the silver sleek handles that I added to replace the original over the top handles!
So I’m going to leave you with most amazing photo ever…again…ahh I LOVE it!
Have you guys ever taken on a HUGE furniture project like this before that turned out amazing? Or maybe it didn’t turn out just like you planned? Tell me all about it!
P.S. The custom painted furniture doesn’t end here! Oh no! Jeremy made me the most amazing side table to go with it. Stay tuned for next week!
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- Custom Modern Nursery Side Table :: Nursery Tuesday (jroxdesigns.wordpress.com)
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This is beautiful! My daughter, 11, inherited my childhood furniture set and your “before” looks exactly like her dresser/mirror. This would be a really fun project, if I could get up the nerve! Thanks so much for sharing.
Wow. I just love it all. It is SO beautiful. I’m expecting my first little girl and you have me determined to do something similar. How or where did you find the mirror? You hand-painted it too?
Thank you so much Emily! I actually purchased the mirror with the dresser off of Craigslist. The women who sold it to us actually had the entire set with a second larger dresser and a vanity as well. I wish her room had enough room because the vanity would have been perfect for a little girl to enjoy for many years. I did hand paint the mirror using the same technique as the dresser. We took the glass out from behind the frame and painted it by itself and then put the mirror back on once we were all done. You will have to come back and share your project when you are all done! We would love to see it!!
Thank you guest posting on Point of View this month. The dresser is amazing. I love the bold color you chose and the new handles are so sleek. It’s absolutely perfect!
Thanks Leanne for helping host such a fun party! I’m so honored you guys chose to guest feature me. Thanks again!
xoxo Amber
I am beyond jealous of your Craigslist find! It’s gorgeous!!! Feel free to find me one too. 😉
What a beautiful refinished piece you’ve created. 🙂 I love how you later lined them as well! =D
Are you still answering questions about this incredible project? I am facing a similar type of paint job but on a much smaller scale. The crevices on the front legs and around the feet have me stumped. What tool did you use to get such perfect lines inside those half-circle crevices?
Hey Jackie! I used a tiny, tiny paintbrush to paint these crevices by hand. It took a long time and was very tedious. I actually hand-painted most of all of the white trim with a tiny brush. It is a pain but the patience pays off!! Good luck with your project!