The Seven-Year Itch: From blah dresser to snazzy green chalk-painted showstopper

I often get restless with my home décor and can be frequently found changing things up, whether it’s just moving furniture around or redoing entire rooms. I always have a project going–it’s my thing, what can I say?! Well, this dresser has been in my oldest son’s room since before he was born…gasp! Yes, he has had three different rooms in two houses, but still, this is a record for me. This winter my oldest will be seven (hard to believe!), and I decided it was high time to take on the ugly nursery dresser and refinish it with chalk paint, turning it into a snazzy green focal point for our spare bedroom.

Here is a before pic of the dresser.

My plan is to move the dresser to the spare bedroom, which is also the last room in the house to be redone (more on that redo in the upcoming weeks–stay tuned!!!).

I decided to chalk paint it and wanted to go with a fun color, but needed a little inspiration to point me in the right direction. I had already chosen neutral wallpaper, so I wanted a zing of color not otherwise found in my house. The spare room is above the garage, nestled among tree branches. It reminds me of a tree house with views of vibrant green leaves just outside all the windows.

I found inspiration in those beautiful verdant leaves, and knew a bright kelly green/jade color dresser with taupe and gray accents in the room would fit the bill.

I also LOVE the pink of this clematis plant with the bright green leaves visible from the spare bedroom window. Note to self: add some hot pink accents in spare room! Pink and green–is there a more wonderfully preppy classic combo?!

This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read our full disclosure policy. First, I purchased the green chalk paint. I was so excited to get started on this project that I went ahead and ordered it from Amazon because I’m addicted to Amazon Prime and it’s so darn easy! I am familiar with this chalk paint as I have used it before on other small projects, and am very happy with it.

Chalk paint is really so easy to apply that you can chat with a girlfriend or watch your two-year-old while you paint–goof proof and low stress, so I’m sold! This paint claims to be non-toxic and there are no fumes whatsoever, so it’s safe to use with kids in the household. It’s so easy to apply that I even once had my four-year-old help me repaint an old cabinet using this kind of paint, and it came out great. He, however, was upset that he couldn’t assist with this big time blog project! But this time I recruited Lisa to come assist me with the painting.

Lisa and I painted two to three coats with high quality brushes and then applied a clear wax coat to the entire piece.

We waited a few days (but I think you really only need to wait 24 hours) and then distressed the piece by rubbing sandpaper along the edges of doors, drawers, and sides to give it a well-loved look. The clear wax made distressing a bit more difficult as we had to muscle a bit with the sandpaper (though we are strong chicks, so it really wasn’t hard!), but it served to keep the next step, the dark wax, from soaking in too much.  Then we wiped sandpaper debris away with a damp cloth and tackled the dark wax.

We decided to go lightly with the dark wax as I liked the green color a lot and didn’t want the overall finish of the dresser to end up looking muddy. Using a good quality wax brush, we gingerly applied some dark wax to the distressed areas then wiped with a clean microfiber cloth. This was something I was a little nervous about, but actually found it quite simple.

  

 

Lastly, I purchased some fun new knobs, which I think look pretty and give the piece even more personality.  I should note that unfortunately I must have bumped the dresser with my leg and gotten some oil from moisturizer or sunscreen right on the front of the dresser, and it did get absorbed into the paint and left a spot. UGH! Now what???

 Source: Anthropologie

I will plan to throw a quick coat of the chalk paint over this to see if it helps. I also would like to apply clear spray paint to the whole dresser to protect it and prevent future similar mishaps. This dresser is waiting patiently for some work in the spare room to be completed before it can be moved into its new location. It’s currently residing in my screen porch, so it’s easy enough to drag it outside and give it a good spray. I could also apply more clear wax to protect it instead of the spray paint, but honestly clear spray paint is just much easier. Plus, I think you are supposed to wax the furniture every few years if using furniture wax alone. No, thank you! Clear spray paint = no more maintenance!

She is looking mighty pretty now, not like that tired old baby nursery dresser anymore! Breathing new life into this plain old dresser by refinishing it kept me from throwing something away that was still fully functional, and saved me from having to spend money to buy a new piece for the guest room. I can’t wait until I finish the spare bedroom and recruit some strong men to lift this bad baby up to her new home! Obviously Lisa and I could manage hoisting this beauty up the steep back staircase, but why should we have all the fun?