Dressing Table Makeover

In our house, I use a side of master bedroom as my craft space and straight opposite to that we have this dressing table. I felt the old and outdated look of the dressing table doesn't go well with color scheme of my craft space and it was kind of spoiling the vibe of the room with its look. So I thought its time to deal with it and decided to paint the dressing table in black color which goes well with black background of thumb tack wall art and also with black chalkboard of my inspiration board.While brainstorming ideas I came to know it is quite difficult to paint this furniture with spray paint for me due to the following reasons:

1) It is heavy to lift and take the whole furniture downstairs (We live upstairs) which requires a lot of help.

2) If it is inside I can paint them at my own time and space .

3) Even though it is summer and I have three windows in the room, I can't withstand the smell of spray paint until the project is done(Already had enough of it, while painting Kitchen Cabinet) which I assumed will take quite a few days .

4) There are a lot of stuffs in the room which I have to move somewhere (No place for that) or keep in the room and covered it with cloth or newspaper.(Even though I did that while painting the Kitchen cabinet I did ended up getting paint on some of the unexpected areas).

With all these points in mind I was searching for other options and came to know about the chalky finish paint. So I thought to give chalky finish paint a try for this dressing table and today I am sharing the steps along with the tips and tricks on how to paint a furniture like this.

I used three products from Americana Decor for Paint and Varnish.(show in the pic). I used 2 jars of 8oz Carbon(Black) chalky finish paint and one jar of Yesteryear chalky finish paint and Soft touch varnish for the final finish.

Paint brushes (One small and one big)

Petroleum jelly or Vaseline and a cotton rag if you are planning to distress

Gold enamel paint for drawer hardware and a sealant

Sandpaper fine grit (optional)

Stencil and foam pouncers or stencil brush (optional)

Paper towels and a container with water to wash the brushes in between

Painter's tape

Screw driver for removing and placing the drawer hardware back.

Clean the whole furniture(i.e dressing table) and wipe it to remove all the dirt and dust. Mask any area where you don't want paint. In my case, I covered the edges of the mirror. Start painting section by section. First I covered the inner part of the dressing table (i.e around the mirror) .

Decide the areas you want to distress and paint the base color.I did 2 coats of yesteryear paint.Also I gave the first coat of paint to remaining areas of the upper part of the dressing table.

Here I wanted to distress the center design and the small parts on the outer sides of the dressing table. You can see in the before photo like all these designs elements are kind of merging along with background wooden texture that we couldn't see them clearly . I did not want that. I wanted to highlight those designs at the same time I did not wanted the designs to look like I have painted something in different color and glued on .So, I went with distress look.As always I did a test on a scrap of wood to learn how it works before doing it on the design.

Now give a second coat of paint all over the upper portion of the dressing table and let it dry. It takes around 10 to 15 minutes to dry . One important thing about the chalky paint is that , don't overload the brush with paint. The paint is already heavy and so if you overload the brush it leaves strong brush marks. I read somewhere that dipping the brush in water after loading the paint helps to reduce the brush strokes but that doesn't works in dark colors. I did try that technique which resulted in lighter shade of the black(Carbon) streaks and was spoiling the look. So, take a little amount of paint at a time and work your way. Don't worry too much about the strokes , you will not notice them as long as you intentionally wanted to. (Got it? ;)). Also if you feel any strong brush strokes , you can slightly sand them before applying the next coat of paint.

I felt the upper part of the dressing table is very plain with just black(Carbon) color and so to add more interest I decided to go with stenciling. I already had some adhesive stencil on hand so I went with that. Use foam pouncers or a Stencil brush to stencil your design and don't load the brush or pouncers with a lot of paint.After dipping them into the paint, dab them two to three times on a paper plates before using it on the stencil. I used foam pouncers with a little paint on it and used dabbing motion up and down to achieve the design. I used yesteryear color for stenciling.

If you are using a adhesive stencil like me, please ensure to not build up lot of paint on the stencil.This may happen if you use the same stencil to repeat the design. So I advice you to wipe off the excess paint with a damp paper towel after two or three uses.Otherwise the paint gets settled on the edges of the design and the next time when you use the paint starts bleeding into the stencil ruining the design. So, it is better to be quick and wipe off the paint after couple of uses or have a two or three design of the same stencil in hand if you are working on a bigger project like this . I think it will not be a problem, if you are using plastic stencils.

Once the upper part is done, remove all the drawers and hardware from it and get ready to start painting the lower part of the dressing table. To create a balance of colors between the upper and the lower part , I painted the lower part of the table with yesteryear color leaving the top part alone. I used carbon color for the top part and the drawers.I used 2 coats of paint all over.

Next comes the drawers hardware. Clean and wipe off any dust or rust before painting.I had gold enamel paint on hand. So, I used enamel paint to paint the hardware and sealed it with clear gloss paint for extra protection. If not, you can also try using any Rub n buff paint to update your hardware.

Add a coat or two of varnish to all the painted areas of the furniture to seal and protect the painted surface. Believe me guys, the varnish makes a lot of difference in the way the furniture looks. It makes the furniture looks smooth and gorgeous as it adds a great sheen to the surface. I started liking the dressing table 200% more when I added a coat of varnish. So highly recommend to add a top coat of varnish to your finished furniture.
When you paint the varnish , before it takes time to dry it does look white but it dries clear so nothing to worry there.(Just saying !)

This step is totally optional. I wanted to cover the inside of the drawers with contact paper to hide some spills which it already had. (Yes ! May be they are as old as the furniture.Can you believe that this dresser is 29 year old?See the picture below.I haven't seen any Manufacturing date like this in any of the modern furniture.But I think it is kind of cool.). Trim the contact paper to the size of the inner drawer and remove the backing for few inches. Paste it and smooth it using a card and repeat the steps. For more tips on pasting the contact paper, read this post here .

Put the drawer hardwares back into its place.And drawers into its place. Also place the upper part of the dressing table above the lower one and voila!! Step back and be amazed at your wonderful makeover.Give yourself a treat to have completed the project successfully and enjoy the new look.

I hope you this makeover inspires you to get out of your comfort zone and try something different and amazing if you haven't tried any furniture makeover before.If you have tried, what kind of makeover have you done? If you have any doubt, please ask me in the comments below and share what you think about this project. As always I will be happy to hear from you.

If you like this makeover, please vote for me in the before and after contest. Thank you :)