Antique Chest of Drawers in Parchment

Believe it or not, this dresser was another candidate for the dump.  I'm telling you men some people just have no vision! ;)

Of course, I had to rescue it.  I'm just so grateful the same man that wanted to throw it in the dumpster is also the same man that is super handy in his shop!  It had some major issues that I could not have fixed by myself. In comes Superman (I am talking about my husband, and, no, he does not wear nor even own a pair of tights or a cape,..that I know of). 

Diane over at The Paint Factory (do you know her? If not, you are seriously missing out!) posted about a couple of pieces she did in French Lime Paint from Maison Blanche.  I fell in love with how they turned out.  So, here's a little peek into my double personality...

I absolutely love (I mean it does funny things to my insides) the look and feel of paint that is unblemished,  A smooth surface that feels like glass and looks flawless gets me every time.  BUT, I also love the look of textured paint, like Old World style.  It makes my heart go pitter patter, too.  So, I am always at war with myself over what kind of finish I want.

Well, let me tell you, this paint gave me both!  There's a lot of movement, depth, and texture to the way the paint looks (more so than even chalk paint in my opinion), but to the touch it's like silk (after sanding and waxing, of course).

I recently redid my kitchen and had tile done for the backsplash.  It makes me happy and it was the inspiration for how I wanted this dresser to look.  So, I just wanted to say

THANK YOU!

to Maison Blanche for making my fantasies dreams come true!

BEFORE

This isn't the true before, meaning this is not how I found it. When I found it it had 6 small drawers on the top, but half the drawer faces were busted in half and the drawers were in terrible condition.  I did not want to ask my better half to fix them (there's just so much he can take, ya know), so I decided to ditch them and turn it into an open space for components or baskets or whatever suits whoever buys it. 

The veneer was also peeling and cracked on one side and on the bottom drawer front, so I had to remove it all. I then sanded most of the old, flaky finish off and that is what you're looking at in the pic. I love how raw it looks...perfect for a new finish. 

AFTER

You'll have to trust me when I tell you these pictures do not do justice to the finish.  I used their color called Parchment and it really is the color of old paper.  It reminds me of Italy and I adore it.  Because I sanded the drawer fronts down to the bare wood when I painted and waxed it it left the paint in the grain of the wood a lighter color than the other paint, so you can still see the grain up close. 

The finish is smooth as a baby's bottom. :)

I love the look of a dark finish under light colored paint, but since I sanded all the old, dark finish off I had to improvise.  I ended up using a can of Rustoleum's paint and primer in one in Espresso Satin for the first coat, then went over it with Shellac so there was a barrier between it and the lime paint.  Then I did two coats of paint and distressed.  It came off so easy I was a little surprised! It looks like dark wood underneath. 

Since I had to remove the top drawers I wanted to add a little detail.  I attached this wood applique using a pinner. It looks like it's been there all along. 

Thankfully it had a gorgeous mahogany top.  Again, I carefully sanded it down, did one coat of Java Gel, and three coats of Varathane in Satin. 

Same deal with the wood piece that separates the top from the bottom. 

I usually try not to paint drawers so there's no issues with sticking, but these were absolutely horrible.  They were filthy dirty, banged up, and had some kind of orange finish on them.  I sanded them down (including a little of the top edge and the runners to compensate for the layers of paint I would be adding), did two coats of shellac, and then painted and waxed them. They slide like a dream now and look about a thousand times better! 

This picture shows the variation in the paint color a little better.  This paint distresses so easily it was hard to control myself! 

I'm telling you, I need a bigger house!!  I want to keep this one, but no room so she's

FOR SALE!