Hey guys! Is Fall in the air where you are? It seems to be just arriving here, and it’s got me in a major purge and organize mood. I’ve already taken two Ford Flex-fuls of donations, and I have so much more to go. It feels really good to let go of things I just don’t need to be carrying around with me anymore. However, one thing I will never part with are the fabulous furniture pieces in my garage awaiting their makeovers. I picked up the piece I am about to show you earlier this summer, but it sat in my garage for a couple months. I knew what I wanted to do with it, but I needed time and motivation. 😉 Today I am sharing a moody furniture makeover: teal & wood midcentury double dresser. (And if this sounds familiar, it’s because I gave this look to a tall chest recently; I just loved the look!) Affiliate links have been used in this post.
I found this dresser on my local facebook marketplace and jumped at the chance. It has those clean straight lines I always love…. they’re like a breath of fresh air in a room. I apparently deleted the photo, but my Sweet Clover partner, Katie, happened to see a similar one, so this was in our text chain and I grabbed it from there to show you approximately what the before looked like. Mine had a laminate top just like this one.
The ad for the dresser specifically stated, “it has a laminate top so it can’t be painted.” I replied to pick it up, paid, loaded up my car, and drove away laughing to myself, “Can’t be painted? Ha! We shall see about that!” Just because the ad stated that, I felt like I was getting away with something.
I have shared the full tutorial on how to paint laminate furniture here, but I’ll give you a quick version here.
First of all, back to my vision… my drawers were in better shape than those above, just in need of cleaning up and a veneer chip needed to be addressed. I knew I would keep those wood and let their beautiful grain shine. However, I wanted to paint the body only in the moody teal color I custom mixed. (You can find out the colors used to create it here).
I removed the drawers, and then used my orbital sander (links for products used at the bottom of this post) and 160 grit paper to give the body of the dresser a good sanding. For the dresser top which was laminate… guess what? I did the exact same thing. I simply sanded it. Now, if you try this at home, just remember to wear a mask as you are basically sanding a plastic and those little particles aren’t good for you.
Once it was all sanded, I cleaned it with a damp rag, allowed it to dry, and was able to go about painting it as if it was all wood.
I gave the body two coats of my custom teal color, and then finished it with finishing wax applied with a clean rag. Once the wax dried (15 minute dry time), I buffed it with a clean rag.
As for the drawers, they just needed a little cleaning up. I had planned on removing the black from the hardware, but once it was painted, I really liked how the black paired with the teal. I simply removed the hardware so I could work on the drawers. I cleaned them well with simple green and allowed them to dry completely. I then used walnut gel stain and lightly rubbed it over the minor scratches as well as the one veneer chip, wiping off the excess as I worked. Finally, I applied a little feed n wax just to protect them and give them a little life.
I then styled it on my driveway next to mums still in their plastic planters, and called it a day. 😉
This piece is available at Sweet Clover this coming weekend. I’ll have photos of our space later this week for you… stay tuned!
If you’re looking for any of the products I used in this post, you can find them here:
