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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Rehab dresser to match existing...




Today's project is to rehab a dresser I found on Craigslist so that it matches an existing dresser in the house. The previous owner had already freshened it up with white paint, so I'll be able to skip a few of my normal steps.

The existing dresser, cherry wood colored, is a family 'heirloom' that won't be omitted for sentimental reasons. So, I bought this white dresser with similiar shape, legs, and general structure at a fair price. The trick will be trying to do a faux technique so that the two pieces match, or at least have the illusion of matching within the same room (they won't live side by side so any variation will be less noticeable than if they were to be placed side by side). How faux can I go? GOOD question! I haven't done a lot of faux technique, so I don't have the answer...yet.


The PLAN (After removing handles and knobs)is:

Step 1. Lightly bleach interior and exterior of dresser and let dry completely.
Step 2. Lightly sand exterior.
Step 3. Raid my paint shelf, mix satin interiors to create a *Reddish* base color.
Step 4. Use a foam brush and apply paint in LONG strokes for streaked appearance.
(The photo shows I've started this stage already)
Step 5. Let dry completely - overnight.
Step 6. Raid my stain shelf and mix a *Reddish-brown* stain blend. I'll use cherry and mahogany stains for reddish tint, and I'll avoid walnut so my blend doesn't get too dark.
Step 7. Put on rubber gloves (stain stains skin!).
Step 8. Take a deep breath!
Step 9. Apply stain with bristle brush, very, very lightly.
Step 10. Let dry and repeat step 9 until I get desired tone.
Step 11. Let dry overnight - no I don't plan to wipe the stain off.
Step 12. Once cured, apply polyacrylic coat.
Step 13. Let Polyacrylic dry, sand gently. Apply second coat of Polyacrylic.
Step 14. Let Polyacrylic dry, sand GENTLY. Apply third coat of Polyacrylic.
Step 15. Enjoy for years to come.

Time will tell if it goes according to plan or not. Wish me luck!!!

Finally, it's February and I'm done with the project. I'm okay with the outcome but it sure took a few tries to get the color I wanted. I also oopsied when I tried to clean the hardware with lacquer thinner, it took the finish completely off them! I bought some metallic bronze spray paint to repaint them and it turned out fine.

What ya think of the dresser now? Hmmmm

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