Antique Dresser with Mirror

This has never happened to me before, but I can't, for the life of me, remember where I picked this dresser up from. :O

I love it because of the big, beautiful mirror and the original keyhole covers.  It was in decent shape, just needed a little help with the drawers. 

It is solid cherry (the top is cherry veneer) and I wanted to keep as much of it as possible.  I sanded the drawer fronts down and they had been filled previously, but they were still in ok condition.  I was hoping if I stained them dark it would hide most of the imperfections.  I also wanted to keep the top wood.  

When I was working on this I had already painted the mirror and my dear hubby comes into the garage and says, "Don't you think that would look cool with the mirror wood and the frame painted?"  Ummm. yes, but I already painted the freaking mirror!  The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea and so I went out to my hot-as-a-stinking-furnace garage and sanded off what I had just got done painting.  DH, I love you,  but stay out of my garage!  And, if you do come in there are only two things you are allowed to say:  "Do you need any help?  And, "That looks awesome just the way it is!" Understand?  

I like it and I'm glad he suggested it. ;)

 BEFORE

Someone had already refinished it once upon a time.  I found blue paint all over the drawer sides and bottoms.  I'm glad they did, but as you can see, the refinish job wasn't that great.  Sorry. 

 AFTER

*sigh*

The body and top two drawers are a light greige (one shade lighter than French Linen AS).  I love the color against the deep wood tones of the drawers, top, and mirror.  Cherry stains up beautifully.  Now, I will say, the top and drawers are not perfect.  There were water rings in the top that I couldn't sand out because I was afraid of going through the veneer, but they aren't that noticeable.  Same with the drawers fronts.  Up close there are a few spots where there must have been something on the wood, but, again, unless you are right on top of it you can't really tell. 

I did one coat of Java Gel from General Finishes and 3 coats of Varathane in satin. 

 The keyhole covers and pulls were fake brass, so I sprayed them with  ORB.  I love the contrast against the light paint. 

 The top is gorgeous.  You can't even see the water rings in this pic.  They are in the bottom right corner. 

 I love the detailing on the mirror frame and picked it out in white to contrast the dark top and the greige. 

The insides of the drawers weren't that great, so I sanded them out and then lined them with sweet, vintage paper (collage style). 

She's a beauty now!