A client contacted me to refinish 2 dressers she received for FREE from a friend. These dressers will find a home at her new beach house once its completed this summer. I am disappointed to say that I can't find a before of the first dresser. This is definitely my favorite. This dresser had a Cherry Stain with Large wooden knobs. I sanded the entire piece and painted with CeCe Caldwell's Young Kansas Wheat Paint. I love CeCe Caldwell's because it is a GREEN paint! Their website says, there are "no Volatile Organic Compounds, are non-toxic and have no odor. The
paint contains NO acrylic co-polymers, solvents, formaldehyde, ammonia,
ethylene glycol or toxic heavy metals. The minerals are clay, porcelain
clay and chalk blended into a water based solution. The paint is
packaged in recycled plastic containers". I think this paint is a win for everyone!
I switched the hardware out for acrylic knob and I really think this made the transformation. I gave it a light distressing and am happy with how it turned out. I'm just upset I wasn't able to get a higher quality photo before my client picked it up.
This next dresser was a really tricky piece. Probably one of the toughest piece I've done in the couple years I've been working on furniture. Here are the before pics--the dresser was covered in black paint with a high gloss finish.
The handles don't come off and made it difficult to give it a true transformation. I worked with CeCe Caldwell's Cottonwood Sienna for this piece. Compared to the other CeCe's paint I have worked with, this was by far the most thin and hard to work with. I coated this dresser with anywhere from 4-6 coats depending on the location--and this is with completely sanding it! I think it was a combo of the thin paint and the harsh finish that was on the wood before I received it. Before putting the water based polyurethane the dresser had a very matte/chalkie/dull look to it. The poly really helped in adding texture to the finished piece and giving it a wood grain look---harder to see in the pics than in person-especially since these were taken quickly with the iphone and not my usual camera.
***Also, the top right hand corner of the bottom drawer is still wet in this pic, so please forgive the slight difference, but I wanted to grab a pic quickly!**
I love redoing furniture for other people. I hope my client is happy with how they turned out and that they love their new home at the beach!
Dani
Labels: cece caldwell, client pieces, painted furniture
