FP Drexel in Coral Bells from Sweet Pickins

A sweet friend emailed me about this Craigslist listing.  I was so excited when I saw the price and then realized the price was for TWO Drexel dressers, not just this one.  I couldn't get to my phone quick enough!  It's a good thing, too, because by the time I drove 45 minutes he had already received 15 other calls on it!  Thank you so much, Sandy!!

When I saw what beautiful condition they were in my heart started pumping. Lol,  It's fun when any day can be like Christmas! ;) 

I knew right away what I wanted to do with this one.  I don't do really girly very often and I rarely do any shade of pink, but Sausha from Sweet Pickins recently came out with a new color in her milk paint line. It's called Coral Bells and it was just speaking to me from her page. :)  Love, love, love it. 

I ordered the paint and couldn't wait for it to get here.  A few days later it came and I was still finishing up some other custom work and was chomping at the bit to get started on this cutie. Half way through I realized I wasn't going to have enough paint to do the entire dresser. so I had to put my thinking cap on because I couldn't wait to order more paint.  

I decided I would do just the drawer fronts with the milk paint and do the body in my regular ProClassic and just have it color matched.  When it all dried and I finished up the drawer fronts I put them in the dresser and they looked good except the ProClassic had dried just a tad bit more orange than the Coral Bells.  You couldn't tell on the thin pieces, but the bottom was very obvious.  AND, the drawers chipped beautifully (which is what I was hoping for), but the latex on the skirt (which is right next to the bottom drawers) was smooth as butter.  It just didn't look right. I tried chipping it with the putty knife, but it didn't look as natural as the drawers and I couldn't live with it.  So, I sat on my garage floor until I had an epiphany and I remember I had this cute paper from a project two years ago.  Perfect!

So, it was a happy accident and I couldn't love it more!

BEFORE

Seriously, who doesn't love a great French Provincial piece?!  That's a rhetorical question as I'm sure there's someone out there who hates them, but it's just lovely. 

I did shellac the entire dresser (other than the top which was being sanded down and stained) because it's cherry and I knew the bleed through would be terrible.  I let the shellac dry overnight before painting so the milk paint would still chip.

 AFTER

I know the staging is minimal for me, but I was losing light and I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to post it. Lol

I love the contrast of the dark wood top, the bright white insets of the drawers, and the dark hardware all with the vintage paper and this to-die-for color. Yum!

I painted the white first then was super careful taping off so I would have nice crisp lines.  They look amazing. I also used Maison Blanche's Le Dirt Antiquing Dust on the inside of the lip.  I wiped most of it back but I like how it left it in the corners and gave it just a little definition between the lip and the inset.

Milk paint is so unique in how it chips and it just looks very natural.  I really like that.  I also love the patina of the original hardware and just left it (which I almost never do!).

 I did use General Finishes top coat in Flat over the entire piece. 

 The top was refinished by sanding it down to the bare wood with 150 grit, then stained with GF Java Gel, and finished with their topcoat in flat. 

 This skirt is just the icing on the cake for me.  It's scrapbook paper and I used Modge Podge to adhere it. *tip:  Cut your paper so it's close, but not exact, adhere it, and when it's dried for a few minutes run a piece of sandpaper along the edge until it falls off.  Voila!  Perfect fit every time.

So cute!

Have a great weekend!