Blue Ombre Dresser with Homemade Chalk Paint

Remember way back when I asked what I should do with this dresser?

Just to refresh your memory, it's for my daughter Kayla's room.  She is dead set on having her room be blue and green and wanted the dresser painted both colors.  I'm not a huge fan of multicolored pieces of furniture, so we came up with a compromise.

I painted it an ombre blue and added some cute blue and green knobs.

I didn't want to buy a bunch of paint for this project, so I just used what I had in the garage and mixed, mixed, and mixed some more.  Achieving the right shades and differentiation in color definitely took some experimentation!

Here's just a little sample of some of the colors we tried.  To make chalk paint, I just add Plaster of Paris and a little water to the paint.  The benefit of using chalk paint is no sanding and priming and a short dry time.  It also distresses really well, but we didn't want to distress this piece.

I would love to add Kayla's room to our house tour, but it's definitely NOT in photo-worthy shape right now.  There's a huge bunk bed right in the middle of the room and sheets strung up to make a fort, not to mention all of the precious treasures she cannot bear to throw away.  Ahhh, the life of a preteen girl!  Here's just a teeny-tiny view into this blue and green room. 

I think this little brass owl is so cute.  He used to be in the living room, until Kayla adopted him as her own.

What do you think?  Are you still a fan of ombre?  I am!  And, if we get tired of it, all it takes is some paint to give it a new look.

Linked to some of my favorite DIY blogs:  Liz Marie, House of Hepworths, My Simple Home Life, Happy Hour Projects,
Elizabeth & Co, DIY Dreamer, Today's Creative Blog, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Primitive and Proper, Home Stories of A to Z, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Tip Junkie, Type A Decorating, , The Thrifty Home, Domestically Speaking, Primp,
A Diamond in the Stuff, Restore Interiors, The Shabby Chic Cottage,  Beyond the Picket Fence, My Simple Home Life,
Addicted 2 Decorating, Just a Girl, Remodelaholic, Miss Mustard Seed, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Thrifty Decor Chick, Coastal Charm, Serenity Now, Get Outta My Head Please, You are Talking Too Much, The Southern Institute  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Fox Hollow Cottage Pinterest Party,  Beneath My Heart

Homemade Chalk Paint Dresser

There are so many great furniture makeovers using chalk paint.  However, I'm bit too cheap to shell out over $50 for a quart.  I've been thinking about trying to make my own chalk paint, but haven't had the right piece to try it on.

Enter this dresser.  It's perfect for my chalk paint experiment AND my daughter Chloe needs a new dresser.  Double score!!

This is probably the nicest piece of furniture I've picked up at a yard sale.  It's made by Drexel, solid wood (super heavy!), dovetail joints, etc. etc.  It's also in near-perfect condition.

Chloe wanted yellow.  So, I picked up a free quart of Ice Cream Sundae at Ace Hardware in a flat finish.  I had seen different techniques on making chalk paint.  At first I was going to use unsanded grout mixed in with the paint because I had a container of it sitting in my garage.

Luckily, my friend Ange from the Blooming Hydrangea commented that this would make the paint a "chalkboard" - type paint rather than the coveted "chalk" paint.  Instead, I mixed Plaster of Paris with the paint and thinned it with a little water.

I don't have an exact recipe or tutorial for you because I didn't measure anything.  I started by putting a few tablespoons of plaster of paris into a container.  I mixed this with about a tablespoon of water and then added a cup or so of paint and mixed well.  The consistency was similar to yogurt...fairly thick.

As I painted it on, there were glops and bumps.  The paint dries VERY quickly....maybe in twenty minutes or so.  There is no need to wait for the paint to cure.  You can go right ahead and sand as soon as the paint is dry.  Just like everyone says, the paint sanded beautifully into a chalk dust.

I used two coats of Minwax paste wax, which buffed to a subtle shine.

I added some new hardware from Hobby Lobby.

And I have a cute new dresser for my cute little Chloe.

Before:

After:

This is my "After" project for Lisa's Before and After party, which I wasn't supposed to share until the end of the month.  But, I finished it so quickly and was so excited by it that I had to share it now!

Linked here:
Today's Creative Blog, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Bella Before and After, Primitive and Proper, Home Stories of A to Z, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Tip Junkie, Type A Decorating, http://sistersstuff.blogspot.com/, The Thrifty Home, Domestically Speaking, Primp,
A Diamond in the Stuff, Restore Interiors, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Beyond the Picket Fence, Fireflies and Jellybeans,My Simple Home Life,
Addicted 2 Decorating, Just a Girl, Remodelaholic, Miss Mustard Seed, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Thrifty Decor Chick, Coastal Charm, Junker Newbie, Serenity Now

May's Project: Paint a Dresser

One of the things on my 2012 Home Goals list was to finish Chloe's room.  A few weekends ago, my  husband picked up this dresser at a yard sale for $30.  It also came with a large mirror.

Chloe's favorite color is yellow right now.  So, of course she wants in painted yellow.  I plan on picking up a free quart of paint at Ace tomorrow.   New knobs will also update this piece.

I'm thinking about maybe trying some homemade chalk paint, made by mixing my paint with unsanded grout.  Has anyone used this technique?  What did you think?

Source: bhg.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I wasn't sure how I felt about yellow, since her room is aqua and bright pink right now.

This is a little sneak peak at what Chloe's room looks like right now.  I kind of forgot that she already has yellow in the chair fabric.


 I also like how Ange used yellow and aqua in her daughter's room.  I think it will good in Chloe's room too.

Of course, I had to check Pinterest for some more yellow, pink, and aqua combos.  There are some pretty pictures of this palette.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: blogs.babble.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I'm linking up to Lisa's Before and After Party.

Remodelaholic Feature

Some of you  might remember that when I started this blog, my main source of content was furniture makeovers.  If it seems like it's been a LOOOOOONG time since I've done a furniture makeover, you're right!  Once the weather gets cold, I like to stay warm and snug in my house and don't like to venture out into the garage to work on a furniture project.  Garage sales are also my best source for furniture and I'll have to wait until the weather warms up for garage sale season to start again.

With the days getting just a little bit warmer and longer, I'm getting the itch to get back out there and paint something.  I was even browsing Craig's List to see if there was anything worthwhile out there (there wasn't, unfortunately).

I have this pretty piece in the garage.

After being removed from the clutter that has piled up around her, all she needs is some glazing and her hardware put back on and she'll be ready to go.  Poor old girl has been sitting in this half-finished state since maybe September!

I got an email this weekend from Remodelaholic, you know the big blog that features all kinds of amazing room and furniture remodels???  Remodelaholic is featuring one of my little pieces on their website today.  It's been so long since I've done any furniture, that I was a little surprised, but deliriously happy as well.  It's a good feeling to know that somebody out there likes and appreciates what we do on our blogs.

Stop by Remodelaholic to see what piece they are featuring of mine.  It's an oldie, but a goodie.  It was destined for sale, but has ended up in my living room as the perfect storage place for craft and art supplies.

And, I have another furniture makeover that I'll show you on Wednesday as part of the One Room Challenge.  It's bright ORANGE!

Suzy's House Party #16

Hello!  We made it through Halloween and now we're in the mad dash to Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

That means it's time for another link party and features from last week's party.

I know you have been seeing this dresser from Lindauer Designs everywhere, but I had to share it too because it's sooo cool.  I love subway art and can't wait to try this on a piece of furniture.

The Salvage Collection has done it yet again with this hutch.  The pop of color is perfect.



We all like throw pillows and know that they are a quick and easy way to change up our decor.  Simcoe Street offers some great advice on how to mix colors and patterns of throw pillows.  Her post also features some great eye candy!

<div align="center"><a href="http://savedbysuzy.blogspot.com" title="Saved by Suzy"><img src="http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd408/lizzygal18/Savedbysuzypartyblogbuttonchevron-1.png" alt="Saved by Suzy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

•Link up your home decor project. Pretty much anything to do with you house is fine.

•Please provide a link back to my blog. A text link is fine, or feel free to grab my "Saved by Suzy" party button from the sidebar. The more people that know about the party and participate the better for all of us.

•Be sure to share the love and leave comments for others.

•That's it.

Sunshiny Stenciled Dresser

Thanks to those who came and visited me at A Lived in Home's Makeover Monday yesterday.  While you were there I gave you a little sneak peak of my newest piece.  Here are the details.

Here's what I started with, a $10 garage sale find:

 Someone along the way put on these tiny, little casters.  It was missing one.  See the sad, lopsided way the dresser is sitting?  See the sad, splotchy garage floor I've created?  Oops.

 A missing caster did not deter us.  A quick trip to Home Depot and I was home with these cute little table legs.  HD had lots of different styles of legs.  I had no idea stores carried these, but I'm glad I know now!  They were only about $1.25 each and screwed right into the bottom of the dresser after Big K drilled some holes in it.

Next up was a coat of my favorite Kilz primer.  I was using spray primer on all of my projects, but it's so much cheaper to buy a can and paint it on.  The problem is that oil-based primer can only be cleaned off of brushes with mineral spirits.  I found a great tip from Cassie at Primitive and Proper: instead of cleaning your paint brush after using primer, just wrap it in a plastic bag and pop it in the freezer until you need it again.

 I have been wanting paint something yellow and I was happy when I found this oops paint at the hardware store.  I painted the drawers white and then stenciled on the design.  I used a Martha Stewart stencil that I found at Michael's.  Of course, I used the 40% off coupon that is available on my blog.

Let's talk stencils for a minute.  I LOVE the look of a stenciled wall.  There are so many great examples of this in blogland.  So, this spring I thought I would try it myself.  I stenciled a wall in my dining room.  It turned out horrendously!  I don't even have any pics it was so bad.  I couldn't get the stencil to line up, paint bled through everywhere, etc.  It was basically a HUGE mess and a HUGE waste of time.  I ended up painting over the wall the next day. 

Needless to say, I have tons of respect for all of you bloggers that can stencil a wall.  It is not easy!

After my failed stencil experience, I wanted to try to redeem myself.  I'm never ever going to try a wall again, but I thought a small dresser would be a good place to give stenciling a second chance.

Here's the result:

See the new legs?

 Stencil success!

I kind of love the yellow and turquoise combo.

More on stenciling...I used this little foam roller (also from Michael's).  I made sure the roller was almost dry when I rolled on the paint.  I also used very light pressure when rolling.  Pressing too hard leads to the paint bleeding underneath the stencil.

If you want to give stenciling a try, but are intimidated, I say "go for it!"  It makes a big impact.  What's the worst that can happen?  You might have to paint over it?  But you also might be pleasantly surprised, as I was, and love the result!



Here's a cost breakdown in-case you are interested:

Dresser           $10

Legs               $5

Yellow paint   $5

White paint     already owned

Primer            already  owned

Stencil           $9 (40% off)

Foam Roller   $2

Grand Total  = $31

Not bad!  Especially since the stencil came in a pack of many stencils and I will be able to use them on future projects.

Linking up to some of these great sites:
Today's Creative Blog, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Bella Before and After, Primitive and Proper, Home Stories of A to Z, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Tip Junkie, Type A Decorating, http://sistersstuff.blogspot.com/, The Thrifty Home, Domestically Speaking, Primp,
A Diamond in the Stuff, Restore Interiors, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Beyond the Picket Fence, Fireflies and Jellybeans,My Simple Home Life,
Addicted 2 Decorating, Just a Girl, Remodelaholic, Miss Mustard Seed, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Thrifty Decor Chick, Coastal Charm, Junker Newbie

An Oil-based Paint Dresser

It seems like forever since I have shown you a furniture makeover!  K has wanted something new in her room for awhile.  She has a white girly-girl matching bedroom set and that was a little too prissy for my little tweeny bopper.

I picked up this mid-century dresser at a garage sale:

It was in surprisingly good shape, which meant minimal sanding, hole-filling, etc.

The top was laminate.  Since this piece was going in a child's room.  I wanted a durable finish and I didn't want the paint to peel right off of the laminate.  So, I sanded the top with a 60-grit sandpaper to really rough up the finish and then went over that with a 220-grit sandpaper.  Next, up was my favorite Kilz primer and 2-coats of paint.

Here's the big reveal:

Oops - can you see the leg I forgot to paint?!?!



K was so excited that I let her pick the colors herself.  She wanted all of the door fronts to be chalkboard, but I didn't.  So, we compromised by painting them a flat turquoise color that she liked.

Want to know how I got it so shiny??
Oil-based paint! 

Oil-based paint has a different consistency than regular latex paint.  I think people don't use it very often because you have to clean your brushes with mineral spirits/paint thinner.  It also doesn't clean off skin very easily.  I still have blue splotches on my forearms from this stuff!  It is also pretty stinky - be sure to use this where you have lots of ventilation.  These fumes can't be good for you!

I liked it because it spreads really easily (use a brush, not a roller).  The best part of all is that it doesn't leave the dreaded brush stroke marks.  It takes longer to dry, but when it does, it's a nice, shiny, hard enamel. 

Another downside is that this paint only comes in a limited number of pre-mixed colors.  I don't think the stores can custom mix a color for you like they do with latex paint. 

This paint was fun to try and a good change from the distressed and glazed pieces I have been doing.  The high-gloss gives a much more modern feel.

K's favorite part was painting the interior drawers herself.

 She even let her 2-year old sister paint the top drawer purple.  Can you tell????  This probably would not have been my choice, but they had fun.  What's the real harm, especially since she is keeping this piece for herself and I am not trying to sell it.

Linking up to some of these great sites:
Today's Creative Blog, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Bella Before and After, Primitive and Proper, Home Stories of A to Z, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Tip Junkie, Type A Decorating, http://sistersstuff.blogspot.com/, The Thrifty Home, Domestically Speaking, Primp,
A Diamond in the Stuff, Restore Interiors, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Beyond the Picket Fence, Fireflies and Jellybeans,My Simple Home Life,
Addicted 2 Decorating, Just a Girl, Remodelaholic, Miss Mustard Seed, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Thrifty Decor Chick, Coastal Charm, Junker Newbie

O'verlays

If you have any interest in design blogs, I'm sure you have heard of O'verlays.  They are a new product from one of my favorite bloggers, Danika Herrick of Gorgeous Shiny Things and her design partner Cheryle Rhuda.  Basically, it's premade fretwork that can be painted and attached to all sorts of things, but particularly IKEA furniture.  The possibilities are endless.

They can make the ultimate before and after on a cheapie IKEA Rast dresser:

Source: kikis-list.blogspot.com via Cate on Pinterest

Here are some more O'verlays projects:

This is the O'liva pattern attached to an IKEA Malm dresser.  Doesn't it make this basic dresser so much prettier?  How about that awesome wallpaper? And the white, aqua, and orange?  I love everything about this picture.

Here's the O'livia all dressed up in gold.

Source: vivafullhouse.blogspot.com via Johanne on Pinterest

But, my absolute favorite O'verlays project I've seen is this amazing console made by Bri at Me, You and a Weiner.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Isn't it so cool? 

Maybe my little dresser I posted about yesterday needs O'verlays instead of drawer pulls?  O'verlays is coming out with new patterns soon, one of which is Greek key.  I might just have to try it, especially since Greek key is one of my favorite patterns.

I promise I won't show anymore pics of that dresser until I do something new to it!  I'm sure you are getting tired of hearing about and seeing that thing.

Until next time!