I had been hearing about this chalk paint for awhile, so when we decided to move Avery to her new bedroom, aka the Palm Princess Palace, I thought it would be fun to give her old nursery dresser a little makeover.
We purchased this dresser about seven years ago now for Avery’s gender neutral nursery (we didn’t find out what we were having! I know, we’re crazy) and I still really love it. It had a white glossy finish and had suffered some wear around the top edge since it was used as a changing table. So, it was either repair the wear and tear by sanding and trying to match the white gloss paint, or just breathe some new life into it.
If you know me at all, you know diy is not my thing. I can tell you all the pretty things to do and I can curate your space right down to the coaster on your bedside table but when it comes to any type of physical handiwork I usually defer to a professional handyman or woman to implement my designs. I am a super impatient diy-er , so the fact that this involved sanding and I didn’t skip that step just goes to show you this was a labor of love!
After reading a few articles and consulting my painter I realized I was going to have to bite the bullet and sand the piece first to knock down the glossy finish so the paint would adhere better. Here is my attempt at sanding. Hah!
I gave it two good standings, and although it knocked the gloss down somewhat, it seemed like I would have had to sand about 20 times more to get it where it needed to be. So ever the impatient diyer (aka mom with limited time to complete any project), I simply gave up and just moved on to the next step. 😂
The next step was to give it a good wipe down with windex to make sure all of the sanding dust was removed from the surface. Again, not a step one has time for but a necessary step unless you are going for a sandy chalk look…
I had used rust oleum spray paint before on a diy project with good results, so I decided to stick with this brand for the chalk paint as well. And, as laziness and luck would have it, this pretty blush tone chalk paint and a set of great paint brushes was immediately available on amazon prime.
Next step- no turning back now! I just started slapping that precious pink paint on there. It was really quite satisfying and the paint went on very easily, even thought the surface wasn’t perfectly sanded.
One thing I will say is that the paint claims you only need one coat, but I found that to be untrue. At least in my circumstance where there was a previous finish, it took two coats to really get it where I wanted it as far as color and texture.
When I removed the old hardware, I realized that strangely it left three holes to be dealt with. So I had to get wood filler and block up the two smaller holes the old hardware left behind, and then touch up with the paint.
And thanks to amazon prime I found these adorable black ring pulls. Unfortunately they were just a little too long, but came perforated for different lengths. I was able to easily trim them down with a wire cutter and then install them tightly so they don’t loosen up with each and every pull and slam coming from tiny hands.
Last but not least - probably my favorite detail of the dresser makeover - is the faux cheetah wallpaper I used as drawer liners. I had originally lined the back of the bookcases in this room with this paper, and I had just enough left to finish off the drawers for a little pattern punch and fun extra little touch.
And, ta da! From gender neutral and glossy to girly and matte, this was a pretty easy and impactful makeover. What do you think?! If I can do it, then anyone can, trust me!
Avery loves her new dresser (and room!) and I do too. And it was a nice little quarantine project to keep us busy.
Nextup, would love to do a photo tour of the rest of the room. We will soon! Just need to finish up some small details before it’s ready to get its glamour shot taken.
Until then, I hope this post inspires you to chalk it up on one of your favorite old pieces. 😁