The first dresser is DONE!... mostly

It took me a while to decide on the color and what exactly I wanted to do with the dressers that will be going in my bedroom. Once I decided though, I got it done!

I chose to go with Slate Blue from Rustoleum and then use this idea from Addicted 2 Decorating to add a silvery color to it. I tested all my color options with that technique before deciding on the blue.

Here's my before:
First, I washed the dresser. It was when I did this that I realized they aren't green and what I thought was glaze is in fact dirt and lots of it. Soap and water wasn't enough, so I bought Bix TSP no rinse substitute. It worked great and looking at the before and after side by side just makes me realize how gross it was before.
So, after cleaning everything, I primed the drawers inside and out (every surface was that blue/green color) and painted the insides Rustoleum's Heirloom White. Then, while watching The Prince & Me, I taped everything off.

I painted the drawer fronts slate blue and then dusted them with Krylon's silver spray paint.
Then, I started on the dresser itself. *Furniture painting tip: Always paint the furniture upside down first, then finish the coat with it right side up. That way you won't miss any surfaces.*

My friend, Morgan came over this week and washed the dresser while I primed and painted the insides of each drawer. (Thanks Morgan!) After finishing up the drawers, I had my husband help me move the dresser outside and primed it. I used Rustoleum's x2 primer. Works great and it's pretty inexpensive. Primed upside down, wait 20 minutes, flip, prime right side up, wait 20 minutes, flip, paint slate blue, wait 20 minutes... It took a few hours and several coats, but I finished it up in one day. Wahoo!
Here it is waiting to be flipped for the silver 'dusting' layer.
After the last layer dried, we brought it inside and matched the hardware to the drawers. Each piece of hardware is slightly unique, so we had to try several before finding the one that matched the holes before we could reattach them all. Here's our "finished" beauty (I still need to add drawer liners). I LOVE how it turned out - the perfect shade of silvery blue for our room! This is my favorite remake so far, I think. My husband is excited to finally get his clothes out of a plastic bin soon.


I'm hoping to get started cleaning the rest of the furniture soon. My goal is to refinish all the furniture in my garage by the end of the summer and get it out of my garage and into my house.