Before – Unfinished Vintage Dresser

The moment I saw this piece I fell in love with it, I’m not even sure why but I did. It’s gorgeous yet simple at the same time. I knew it wouldn’t take long for someone to claim it for their own. My customer came by with a piece of fabric from her home and we figured out a design plan for her “new to be” vintage painted dresser. 

Prep & Paint for Painting Furniture

With snow on the way, I put my big girl pants on and managed to get this vintage dresser out of my truck, down a flight of stairs and into my shop ALL BY MYSELF! It wasn’t easy, I did it in steps and I managed to not trip and fall while doing it, considering I do have a habit of falling up the stairs. The vintage hardware is removed and the dresser sanded and cleaned prior to paint. The dust bunnies were vacuumed out with my shop vac and the drawers wiped clean. Here is my entire process for How to Prep Painted Furniture.

The decorative pieces at the bottom of the vintage dresser had both been damaged beyond repair, so they had to be removed and the area itself repaired. 

Painting a Vintage Dresser

The dresser body is painted a neutral taupe, while the drawers are painted in a mustard yellow for a pop of color. I recently finished a bold yellow media console and I think I’ve sparked interest in adding bold yellows, you can see that bold and cheery makeover here- Painted Media Console Sunshine Yellow. You can find great quality furniture paint and stain online HERE. An added bonus, when painting furniture, you want to make sure to use a quality non-toxic furniture paint.

This yellow dresser is lightly sanded in between each coat to achieve a smooth soft finish. 

If you are just starting out you can always start at the beginning with How to Paint Furniture – a Beginners Guide.

Painting Vintage Hardware

I don’t always take photos of each stage of painting hardware, but decided to in the case of these vintage hardware pulls. The original pulls were a dark sort of bronze color. You can see my full process for painting hardware How to Clean, Prep & Paint Hardware. 

Next, the pulls are painted in a light gray. This is after one very thin coat. 

Here is after two coats, the second coat makes a big difference. 

To get the metallic silver look that we are going for, I then add silver paint. 

The final result: 

Vintage Dressers = Wooden Drawer Tracks

Vintage dressers often have wooden tracks, which I love. But with wooden tracks, wood can sometimes stick. In the case of this piece, the wood doesn’t stick, but I’ve started to get into the habit of lubricating wooden tracks no matter what. Even though they don’t stick, by adding a little lubrication to them they glide so smoothly now!

I simply take a clean rag and my Daddy Vans all natural furniture wax and rub along the track of the dresser as well as the track on the bottom of the drawer.  Easy peasy. If you don’t have any Daddy Vans you get some (HERE)

The Result – Vintage Painted Dresser with Yellow Drawers

The snowfall came and dumped a good foot and a half on us and if I had waited to get this vintage painted dresser inside I may not have finished in time. Good thing for my big girl pants 😉

Care to see other furniture makeovers of pieces saved from the same old barn in the Catskills? Click to see this Desk Rescue in Memphis Blue post or this Eggplant Antique Parlor Table post.

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