Homemade Paint Spiffs Up An Old Dresser

I love how paint can be such a quick fix.  I decided to repaint a black $20 thrift store dresser that I have had for two years.  It was giving off more of a contemporary look than I wanted.

 

This dresser comes in handy in our living room.  It holds our placemats, napkins and fancy dinnerware thats get used a couple of times a year.  My mom and I painted it black when we first moved to Syracuse and before we even thought about writing a blog.  Initially I bought it because the price was right.  I went with black because we already had that color on hand.

 

 

The black was fine, but I was tired of it and wanted to give it a fresh look for not much money.  I decided I would try a yellow since I had some leftovers in  our basement.  Also, since the dresser was black, I didn’t want to do much prep work.  So, I decided to make my own chalk paint.

 

 

While I was doing the prep work, Gracie decided to find a spot to take a nap and sleep on the job.  I think she was mad that I was disturbing her sleep on my drop cloth.

 

This was only the second time I have used this type of paint, and I am such a fan of how you can do multiple coats in such a short time.  As I mentioned earlier, I made my own  paint using this recipe:

 

1/2 cup plaster of Paris

1/2 cup water

(Mix these two ingredients before adding paint)

1 cup of latex paint

Combine with the first two ingredients stir.  That’s all there is to it.

 

I ended up applying four coats followed by  a quick sanding and waxing of the dresser.  Since the dresser is very plain, it was a very fast project . I used a sponge roller which really helped speed up things, too.  I sanded it down in certain areas to add a lightly distressed look.

 

 

Right now I am really happy with the yellow, and if I get tired of it, I know it is easy enough to change.  By the way, I sprayed the pulls with ORB, but they might get switched out for something more interesting.

 

 

I like the way it now brightens up this corner of our room.  I am still playing around what to put on top but you can see I added two of my easy DIY projects,  the nautical candle holders and the pet store coral.

 

The yellow at least is good for a fresh summer look.  Plus the cost of the project was zero dollars since  I had everything on hand.

 

Follow us on Pinterest here.

 

Cheers!

Linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style. and Miss Mustard Seed