Once upon a time, there was a well-loved dresser who was destined for a new home.  My friend had gotten it from her mother, who had purchased it second hand.  The dresser was headed to a thrift store, but my friend asked if I would like it instead to practice some different refinishing techniques.  But, of course I would!

Once I had the dresser in my garage, I realized that she would be a beaut if my husband and I tightened it up.  Experiment?  No way!  This practice piece was going to find a new home in my master bedroom redo.

I sanded, and sanded, and sanded.  There were probably 3 different shades of paint, a few coats of primer, and the original varnish.  I spent about three days over different weekends trying to get down to the bare wood, since the paint was in such bad condition.  Luckily, I had a sweet little helper.

The paint eventually began peeling off in sheets – which was great for me, but is a testament as to why it’s so important to do the grunt work to properly prepare any furniture piece you are refinishing – you don’t want that to be YOUR hard work peeling off!  Once it began peeling, I was able to scrape it with a paint scraper and then run my sander over it with a medium grade sandpaper.

Using the techniques detailed in Mandie’s fantastic e-books on refinishing furniture, I primed and painted the dresser in (Behr paint tinted to) the Sherwin-Williams Decisive Yellow I previously shared with you as part of my inspiration.

I did try to use the Behr Ultra Plus paint and primer in one, but I had horrible results with it on bare wood.  I have heard great things about it, but after three coats, the wood was still sucking up the paint.  I would try it again on walls or previously painted wood, but never again on completely bare wood.  After priming it with Kilz and painting it with regular Behr paint, I couldn’t believe the difference in the results.

After the yellow paint was dry, I glazed it with Ralph Lauren glaze tinted to RL Black Silk.  This was my first attempt in glazing, and it went pretty well.  Again, I used Mandie’s glazing techniques from her e-book and also a little try and error myself.  As with any new technique, you should practice on a piece of wood before you work on your own piece.  I was a little heavy handed because I wanted it to look more “urban” and less “French-y”, but I’m very happy with the results.

The last step was to add pulls to my dresser.  I bought an assortment of vintage pulls off of Etsy, cleaned of the tarnish with steel wool, and spray painted them flat black.  I love that every pull is different, and I have named her Miss Matched.

Sure, she’s the only part of my master bedroom redo actually completed, but you have to start somewhere!

And, now for a bunch of photos of my new beauty (which I know will drive my friend Emily crazy):

I would marry Miss Matched if I wasn’t already married.  Plus, I guess if I was married to a dresser, my first born wouldn’t be that darn cute.

P.S. I am an affiliate for Mandie’s e-books, so I get a couple of bucks when you buy one from my link.  In turn, I use those few bucks to buy more paint and glue sticks.  It’s a vicious cycle, but someone has to do it!

P.P.S. I linked this post up to Gina’s Transformation Thursday party over at The Shabby Chic Cottage.