Blue Painted Dresser – Painted Dresser Ideas
It’s been a long while since painted a dresser around here. I really love the look of painted furniture. For so many reasons I favor older pieces of furniture over anything new. For one, they just don’t make furniture like they used to. Also, rarely is new furniture solid wood and they just don’t last like the old pieces. It’s really tough to find solid wood furniture anymore so when you come across a quality piece it’s begging you to snag it. Matt and I first started picking up vintage dressers to paint before Peighton was born. We hunted for the perfect pieces to furnish her nursery. If you want a true blast from the past, check out her nursery here on the blog.
This mint painted dresser that we used as a nightstand for a long time was a really rough piece of furniture before we loaded it with wood filler, painted it, and gave it new life. Many years ago we also painted this two-toned dresser that was such a great find. Most recently, I’ve been really into more natural-looking wood so Matt and I bleached a dresser that I’m now using as my entryway table. I love the beachy vibes the light wood tone gives. It actually matches another piece of furniture that we have in our house that I purchased in Jacksonville Beach so that’s a bonus.
We really don’t paint furniture as often anymore but when my brother-in-law told us that he had an extra dresser up for grabs we didn’t hesitate to scoop it up. We actually really need this piece of furniture and this now gorgeous blue painted dresser is now the showstopper of my girls’ shared bedroom.
Before we replaced it with the pretty blue painted dresser, the girls shared this chest from IKEA. I really love this piece of furniture. It’s really affordable and surprisingly good quality when you are not overstuffing the drawers. The problem we had was it just simply wasn’t enough space for the two girls to share.
The blue painted dresser came about rather organically. Whenever we paint furniture I usually have a paint color in mind for the piece of furniture, this time, I didn’t. We went to the Home Depot and browsed through the paint cards. Peighton’s very favorite color is blue and the girls’ shared room has some blue accents like their rug and the wall decals they love so much. We ended up with this green-blue shade of blue appropriately called Green Meets Blue, a paint color by Behr.
Before this dresser found its home with us, it was my niece’s and it was painted a lovely shared of purple with a stained top. When I first got my hands on it, I really loved the idea of stripping the paint off and bringing it back to its solid wood glory. The wood grain on the top didn’t match the dresser itself. My best guess is that there was a veneer on top that was sanded off leaving the plywood top or perhaps at some point the top was replaced. Either way, I didn’t think the dresser would look its best all wood which is why I opted to paint it blue. The blue-painted dresser with the contrasting top is the winning look for the girls’ room if you ask me.
The last thing we did for this furniture makeover was to change out the drawer pulls. I am a huge fan of swapping out furniture hardware. It can completely change the look of a piece of furniture or even the look of an entire space. It really is one of the best things you can do to update a piece of furniture. This piece had the original hardware which was really ornate. I put on these brushed brass pulls for a modern, and updated look.
Here are a few painting tips for painting furniture if you are interested in doing something similar to the painted blue dresser.
1. Invest in good paintbrushes. For a furniture piece like this, I like to use a small foam roller or foam brushes. Using brushes like these you can avoid brushstrokes and get a really smooth finish which is really important for furniture. For the surfaces that aren’t flat and you need to get in those nooks and crannies, I can’t recommend Purdy paintbrushes enough. I especially love a 2 in angled blush.
2. Sand first. I like to give every piece I paint a light sanding. Doing so gives a smooth finish. Sometimes you may need a more serious sanding if the piece has another finish that you’re trying to remove such as paint or a gloss. If none of these are true, a light sanding before painting is all it should take to get your piece of furniture ready for paint.
3. Use quality paint. I like using Behr Marquee paint. I have almost any color mixed into this paint at the Home Depot paint desk. It is a thick paint that has great coverage which means fewer coats overall.
4. Protect the paint with a finish. You’ll want to put something on your piece of furniture that you’ve worked so hard to paint to keep it looking lovely. I like using a polycrylic sealer on painted furniture. The concern a lot of time with a sealant is that it might turn white paint yellow over time. This particular one goes on clear and won’t yellow over time. It will protect your furniture from the wear and tear of daily use.
Have you painted any furniture recently? We’re really loving the space and design of this new (to us) dresser.
