This is a very exciting project! If you follow us on Instagram, you may remember seeing this pic a while back. I found this dresser sitting on the curb on garbage day when I was out walking Buddy. Hilarity ensued and it did eventually end up in my car and in our sunroom, where it sat, musty and yucky for months until I started to come up with a whole space vision.
The entire sunroom is getting a refresh to try to unify some of the mismatched pieces in there, and this dresser is step number one! 
While at Blog Podium, I was fortunate enough to win a prize pack from Annie Sloan Unfolded. It included Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan in Paris Grey, Clear Soft Wax, Decoupage Medium, Gold Size, three brushes and a tutorial book. I knew this paint was going to catapult the curb side dresser into a new life!
First of all, this paint is a DREAM. I had read so much about it and I wasn’t quite prepared for how glorious it was going to be. I decided the whole sunroom is going to evoke a ‘beach’ vibe, with hints of driftwood and bleached woods – much like I find on my daily beach walks. The Paris Grey hue was PERFECT for this vibe. It has a hint of blue and reminds me of the rocks by the shore. Stunning.
First things first though – I removed the drawers and, using a palm orbital sander, I took the finish right off. I wanted my dresser to be two-toned. Once I had the finish stripped and sanded smooth, I filled the holes with wood filler and used Minwax White Wash Pickling Stain to give them a bleach-y look. 
It goes on really watery. I left it on for about 3 minutes and then wiped it off with a lint-free cloth. I did this twice in a row. If you want more saturation, it says you should wait two hours between coats. 
You can see the body of the dresser drying in the background of this photo. I kept walking by and stroking it because I was just so amazed at how the Chalk Paint® adhered to the unsanded, dark brown surface.
It took two coats to cover it completely – but it dries so quickly that you can finish both coats in less than an hour.
Once everything was dry (truthfully, I waited a couple of days because I had other stuff going on), I sanded everything down just a wee bit. The dresser top got a good even sanding to smooth it out a bit and the drawer fronts got some extra sanding to even out the wood filler marks (though those will be covered by the hardware.)
And Voila!
Speaking of hardware, I didn’t want to reuse the old stuff – it just didn’t jive with the vibe I wanted. I found these awesome pulls on the Home Depot website. I ordered five of them and they took about a week to arrive.
Just before putting the new hardware on, I used the Clear Soft Wax and accompanying brush to protect the whole thing. With this product, a little goes a long way. I read online that it’s akin to putting on lotion. Grab a little dab on the end of the wax brush and work it in circles until it’s absorbed. Apparently, if you add too much, the piece will always have a tacky feeling. Mine absorbed right away and gave the dresser that touch of smooth that’s just so lovely.
Curbside no more!
One other little detail I added? Some gorgeous decorative paper I snagged at Duly Noted Stationary in Halifax. Watch for a promotion and prize giveaway from them coming to the blog later this month!
I was so thrilled with this Chalk Paint® makeover that I used it again on another sun room project that I’m going to share with you later this week. I hope you’ll come back and check it out!
If you are local and would like to try Chalk Paint®, Rusty Hinges in the Hydrostone is an official vendor. (Because, let’s face it, after seeing this transformation, you totally want to try it, right?!)
Happy Monday! Chat soon 🙂
PS. We’re sharing this post with any and all of these awesome parties! Check them out!
