I found this piece on my local classifieds page and the woman selling it happened to be my husband's neighbor when he was a child! She was very sweet and said her husband had already started refinishing it, but they were moving and she was getting rid of things. Lucky me!
It seriously is the cutest little chest of drawers. When I went to look at it I just fell in love with its size and that's what made up my mind. She told me it had a mirror that went with it, but it was lying on the floor, missing the mirror, and in pieces, so I didn't have a very good idea of what it looked like. I was so happy when I got it home and put the mirror together and got it on the dresser.
People always ask me how I find such great pieces. I have no idea. It just kind of happens. What I can tell you is that I have become very particular (with the exception of a rare mistake) on what I bring home. I made a rule for myself that I will not buy it unless I absolutely love it. I didn't use to be that way. lol
When I started working on this piece I realized the stripper had been left on and dried in places, so I had to sand all of that off. I'm so glad this piece isn't any bigger than it is! :)
It's all oak and when oak gets old it can dry out which really opens up the grain. I hate that. :)
I used it to my advantage though, and decided to go "old world" with it. I could just see it in a frenchy pink with a really worn look. That's where chalk paint comes in!
I don't use it very often but I love how it layers and that's exactly what I was going for. I had a lot of fun playing with it and broke every rule I've ever made for myself about painting. It was very liberating. lol
I'ma very Type A personality (as my whole family will attest to). I'm somewhat of a perfectionist and I like things just so-so. I'm no different when it comes to painting. BUT, sometimes it's good just to throw all of that out the window and to just have fun with it. You should have seen me with that brush! ;)
I actually learned a lot about chalk paint doing this piece. I learned what it likes to do and what it's good at doing. With all that being said, I am still a latex gal. :)
BEFORE
This has to be the worst before pic ever, but it's all I have. The mirror was in pieces when I bought it so I had to re-assemble it. I had already started sanding it down when I remembered I hadn't taken a pic yet! Sorry about that.
AFTER
I just want to pinch it's little drawers.
I used lots of layers of Scandanavian Pink and Old White.
I mentioned the mirror was missing when I bought it (I did find remnants of it in a drawer). I already had a little more $ into this piece than I was comfortable with so I opted to do a chalkboard for the mirror instead of replacing it. I'm so glad I did. It gives this piece a whole different look and what little (or big!) girl wouldn't love to write on it?!
I used 1/4 inch luan and had my hubby cut it to fit the frame. I primed it, sanded it, did a coat of chalkboard paint, sanded it, and did one more coat of chalkboard paint.
I almost used white, ceramic rosettes for the hardware, but decided I liked the rusty pulls better. I like that it grounds all that pink.
Same with the top. If I had painted this whole piece pink it would have been too much. I love that that the natural wood breaks it up and gives the eye a place to rest.
The drawers had been painted brown previously, so I sanded them, painted them, and lined the bottom with paper. You can see the MP is still wet in this pic (No, t's not because I am so impatient! Wait, yes, yest it is.) ;)
I love the depth layering gives.
I'm not really a fan of pink, generally, but I am tickled pink by this chest of drawers.
Pun intended. :)
