Chateau Grey Milk Painted Dresser

Hope everyone is not getting tired of the "redos" of the furniture that I have worked on this summer.  Last week, I took on the challenge of a six drawer Drexel dresser marked Parisianne on the back.  It appeared to have gone thru a few lifestyle changes of her own.  I saw evidence of aqua blue, yellow, and ivory, along with a final coat of taupe grey with pale yellow trim.  The paint did not seem to be sticking very well.  I was right in my assumption that someone had attempted to paint latex over an oil base.  That is never a good option, and I was always told in classes to never put thin (water) over fat (oil) paints.  I did need to fill in some areas with wood putty.  When I went to sand them smooth, the outside latex paint started to peel.  I knew that I would have to strip all the loose paint, and make a smooth transition to the paint below.  The photo looks worse than the procedure, but it did add to the time element.  I emailed the Jennie Leigh Studio,www.jennieleighdesign.com, and they assured me that the chalk paint would be an excellent option for the previous finishes on the dresser. 

It helps to have staff that are willing for you to bounce ideas off of their heads!  (Or a cookie off of their noses!!)

 

 

 

The next step was to make sure the dresser was ready for the chalk paint with a good cleaning.  I then applied two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Chateau Grey.  Did I tell you this is my newest "favorite" color?  After allowing this paint to dry, I was able to lightly distress the edges back to some of the other colors that were on her.  Again, I cleaned with a tack cloth.  The next day I applied two coats of Annie Sloan clear wax.  I did not use the darker wax as I did not want the color of the paint to darken. 

 

 

 



 As you can see, I finished the inside of the drawers with a really pretty paper I found at Hobby Lobby in the gift wrap section.  This was printed on a craft paper stock and worked perfectly for the drawer lining. I used Locktite adhesive spray to fix the paper to the drawer bottom after fitting it to size. I think it is always fun to have a "surprise" inside when the drawers are opened! 

 

And here is the finished dresser, at Carol's Corner in Gainesboro Tennessee, ready to go to a new home!