French Provincial Dresser Restored - lots of photos/video

 

I LOVE French provincial bedroom furniture, the classic feminine style is just so elegant. I like to refinish in the classic traditional white but with this cutie I wanted to keep the fabulous wood grain on the top and drawer fronts and think the final look is perfect. Would you agree?

This sweet girl has seen allot of wear and has been painted over in a melamine type white paint in the past as well as had the hardware painted pink. Time to bring it back to life.

The paint peeled off quite easily and if needed my razor would lift stickier areas.

The top had all removed then moved on to the edges. 

The original white paint required stripper to remove. EZ Strip paint and varnish stripper was applied, left to do its magic then scraped off with a metal putty knife.

I applied a second coat and repeated. When done wipe with water to neutralize and let dry.

The top was power sanded to remove any residual paint. Just look at this wood grain. It would be a shame to cover right?

EZ Strip paint and varnish stripper was repeated on the drawer fronts.

Again the effort was very much worth it.

On a balmy winter day here in Alberta Canada I hauled everything outside to power sand smooth.

The body of the dresser had areas of peeling paint so I used my handy carbide scraper from Richard tools to loosen and scrape smooth.

Then the base was power sanded smooth.

And to be sure the paint sticks (unlike the previous paint job) to the factory paint I brushed on 2 coats of Dixie Belle Slick Stick and let dry overnight.

Links to the Dixie Belle products are for your convenience. My affiliation with this paint company does not increase prices on your end, your purchases via my links do however provide a small subsidy which allows me to keep providing these tutorials. Thank you!

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To keep the gorgeous grain but still have a bit of white I applied picklin white Dixie Belle No Pain Gel Stain with a blue shop towel wiping back to leave just a faint white wash.

And repeated this process on the dresser top.

Dixie Belle silk paint in saltwater; a fresh crisp white was applied with the handy mini Dixie Belle synthetic brush. Two coats were applied in total.

After 4 days drying, the gel stain was sealed with a coat of Dixie Belle flat clear coat followed by 3 coats of Dixie Belle satin clear coat to add a bit more sheen. 

All coats were applied with a Dixie Belle premium chip brush.

You can also see I applied a line of gold in the drawer fronts replicating the original look. The videos above shows how I did it.

I also applied the gold line around the top and dresser lower edge.

To add a pretty detail to the drawer edges the new basket weave Dixie Belle stencil was added with the same saltwater Dixie Belle silk paint used on the dresser body.

It adds such a fun surprise when the drawers are pulled out.

Now to address the painted pink hardware; EZ Strip paint and varnish stripper was brushed on and let soak. Once it was activated the pulls were scrubbed with a brush and scouring pad to remove the old pink paint.

The original gold was worn in places but easily fixed with gold Dixie Belle Gilding Wax applied with a small brush and left to dry well. See the softer more solid gold finish of the painted bottom pull?

All new drawer guides were replaced as originals were all broken.

The final step was to add even more pretty fun to the drawers. 

I dry fitted some pretty peony floral Dixie Belle rice decoupage paper in the drawer, perfect.

It was cut to size and ironed smooth.

Rather than decoupaging it in place I chose to use spray adhesive so it was removeable in the future.

Once sprayed and the back was tacky I smoothed it in place and the drawers were complete.

Another one of a kind feature was added to this beauty.

And it is ready for years more use.

gold details add glam

The drawer sides pull to reveal the pretty basket weave pattern. And yes Harley still loves to get in the photo shoot now and then.

I am sharing many of the photos repeated with the tulips as they opened, sooo pretty.

Links to the Dixie Belle products are for your convenience. My affiliation with this company does not increase prices on your end, your purchases via my links do however provide a small subsidy which allows me to keep providing these free tutorials. Thank you!

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