Dresser Makeover Before and After

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I told ya last week that the nesting phase has commenced and one of my goals before baby arrives is to finish both the kids’ rooms! I love the dresser I had in Miss E’s room, but it just wasn’t working with her ‘mint & pink’ room in this house. It just felt a little dark and harsh for her pastel theme. Naturally, I decided to switch it out and I’m sharing a new Dresser Makeover Before and After today.

Not too long ago my grandparents downsized and out of it I received several family heirlooms including this bright orange dresser. I love the clean lines and it is the perfect size for a kid’s room. Since it was clearly a victim to some serious orange spray paint in the 70’s, I thought it was the perfect piece to try the new BBFrosch Chalk Paint Powder.

I don’t consider myself a ‘furniture painting expert’ by any means. I’ve done my fair share of them and I learn from each piece that I do, but tend to enjoy my power tools and wood stain a little more. I’ve tried several different types of ‘chalk paint’ over the years and but I’ve found most of them to be really thick and leave brush strokes. If I am distressing a piece chalk paint works great, but if I want a really clean paint job I found them really difficult to work with.

I decided to give the BBFrosch Chalk Paint Powder a try and see what the hype was about. There are a few things that appealed to me right away 1) It’s a fraction of the cost of other pre-made chalk paints 2) you can easily create your own custom colors because you are simply adding the powder to latex paint and 3) I heard the finish is super smooth.

You all know I am SUPER honest with you all when it comes to new products and here is my honest opinion…. THIS STUFF ROCKS MY SOCKS OFF.

I’m not kidding around. I went into it a little skeptical because I haven’t had the best experience with chalk paint in the past and this goes on super super smooth and coats extremely well. I am really impressed and I can honestly say I won’t use any other brand of chalky paint after trying this. 

For this piece, I actually mixed the chalk paint powder into a quart of ‘remnant latex paint’ that I picked up from the hardware store for $2.50. I loved the color and knew I would use it down the road. It’s a light gray with a little bit of a blue undertone.

I did a little bit of a different look on the drawers. I stripped the orange paint off by sanding down the drawers. Then, I stained them using my new favorite mix (found here). I was planning on leaving them stained but it didn’t look right, so I took the chalk paint mix and dry brushed the drawers. Would you believe that I didn’t have to sand any of the finished piece? That is how smooth the paint went on. (in case you are wondering I used a small roller on the dresser and then a flat brush for the detail on the drawers)

When designing this piece I worked very carefully with my 4 year old ‘client’.  Every time we do a project for her room, she insists that one part of it is always pink! So I let her pick out some pink drawer pulls that fit her style. I love that she is so into decorating her room and while her style might not be what I would pick, I love working on things together :)

She loves how it turned out and I’m so excited to check another projects off the list!

Here is a quick before and after of the dresser. Still can’t get over how little it takes to transform a piece.

And here is what the space looked like before and after. Like I said I still love the dresser on the left (it’s not going too far, I’ll be sharing it’s new place in the home soon), but the new dresser just really looks better in her cute little girly space.

About Taryn Whiteaker

Taryn Whiteaker is the voice of style behind TarynWhiteaker.com (formerly Design, Dining and Diapers) ! Taryn is a previous PR/Marketing professional who got back to her creative roots after becoming a mom and now shares her passion for home decor and design for the world to see. Taryn lives in the greater Seattle area with her husband and three kids and loves coffee, the outdoors, and exploring with her family.