I am so excited to share with you how Miss Mousie’s dresser turned out! After fixing it up (which you can read about here) and getting it looking like new it seemed rather plain. This dresser has such graceful curves and it would have been a shame to not make it look more feminine. It was a cleaned up canvas waiting for a bit of happy to be added.
I knew I wanted to keep whatever I did subtle, nothing too flashy or bold. I looked online for some inspiration and didn’t find much of what was even vaguely in the direction I was wanting. Do you ever have a picture in your mind but it’s only half way there and what is there is fuzzy? I wanted something white and floral that used the whole front as a canvas, not each drawer as an individual space.
Then I found it. The piece that brought my vision into focus: Miss Mustard Seed’s Mora dresser. It is gorgeous! I studied each picture, watched the how-to video and I was all set. As it turns out I am not Miss Mustard Seed. No surprise there. I do not have her paint or her brushes or her skill. But we are all given a measure of skill and what I have I’ll use.
I got out my chalk pencil and lightly sketched where I wanted the flowers, leaves and stems to go.
Then I fished out a bottle of white craft paint. I wanted the flowers to have a transparent almost water color look to them so I mixed the paint with water until it was very thin. I tried my best to make my flowers look like the ones I had seen, but my brushes are a different shape which changes the look of the stroke. Oh, well, they are still flower shaped. After everything was painted and dried it looked a little too white and single toned. To “erase” some of the white I mixed a little left over gray with water and touched up where I wanted the flowers to be a bit darker. Once that was dry I used the white, diluted again but not as much, and gave a few highlights. Ahh, that’s better, lights, mediums and darks.
It was so pretty, but too new looking. Time to distress! Now, I do realize how silly it seems to make something old look new just to make it look old again. But it’s going to be a soft cozy blanket type of old not a crusty leather shoe type. I used 120 grit sandpaper along the edges of the drawers and where the curves of the top and front would naturally wear down. I also sanded all the flowers. The base color had brush strokes in it, so when I sanded over the flowers it took the high points off and left a soft worn look.
Next came the waxing. I have never used wax to seal paint, but all the Youtube videos made it look fairly easy. I told my husband how nervous I was to use the wax and he said, “What’s the worst that could happen? So you have to sand it all off and start again.” Yes! That is the worst. I don’t like sanding or starting over! Thankfully I didn’t have to, turns out it is easy. I used DecoArt Americana DECOR creme wax from Hobby Lobby in clear. It’s a liquid that you rub on with a soft rag then buff off with a clean spot. I then used the same brand wax in golden brown to antique it. It should just be called making it look dirty wax, but that probably wouldn’t sell as well. If you try out the antiquing layer for yourself, be sure to do little sections at a time. It dries fast and is hard to clean off. Right after you put it on you take the clear wax to rub it back off leaving just a hint of the brown in the deeper ridges. It also takes the freshly painted look off. I did not take any pictures of this process because I had to work fast and my hands were covered in layers of wax. I didn’t think that would be very good for the camera.
Now I just needed to add the knobs and nail the lock covers back on and it’s done! I am loving how this turned out.
Things didn’t go as smoothly as in the how-to video I watched, but really, when do they ever?
I sure hope you’ll try something new on one of your projects. You just might end up loving how it turns out. And, hey, what’s the worst that could happen? So you have to sand it all off and start again. No, big deal, right?
Now for the side by side before and after shots.
Good job mom!