From Heavy Wood to Luminous Gray: A French Provincial Refresh
This project makeover is all about the power of a tonal shift. The original piece had beautiful bones and classic French Provincial lines, but the dark, glossy wood finish made it feel a bit heavy for a modern space. By choosing a soft, matte gray, we breathed new life into this heirloom, turning it into a chic, versatile centerpiece.
Why This Transformation Works:
Simplifying the Silhouette: Dark wood can sometimes hide the intricate carvings of French Provincial furniture. The uniform soft gray finish highlights the scalloped bottom edge and the elegant curves of the drawer fronts.
The Hardware "Pop": We kept the original ornate brass pulls. Against the dark wood, they were lost; however, against the new light gray backdrop, they act as the perfect vintage jewelry for the piece.
Modernizing a Classic: By removing the oversized matching mirror and styling the top with a modern lamp and simple decor, the dresser feels fresh and "on-trend" while maintaining its historical charm.
This gorgeous French provincial dresser, crafted by a Canadian furniture manufacturer Malcolm Furniture, is well-made and solid, definitely worth re-loving with a color that complements the customer's new home.
Signs of well-built furniture include solid, sturdy wood frames, dust covers inside the drawer area, dovetail joinery, and a smooth, uniform finish.
The beautiful grained, curved wood veneer is applied over solid wood layers, unlike some lower-quality pieces that use MDF or chipboard.
While removing the hardware on this beautiful French provincial dresser, I noticed an issue: there was an area down the front of a few of the drawers, and on the top surface, where it appeared something resembling lacquer had spilled and had become firmly adhered. To address this, I carefully scraped away the dried residue with a razor blade, ensuring not to damage the underlying wood veneer, and then sanded the area until it was smooth and even, preparing the dresser for its new updated look.
The entire dresser and drawers received a thorough cleaning using a spray cleaner, wiped off with a clean damp rag. This meticulous process, performed both inside and out, ensured the removal of any lingering dust particles, creating perfectly clean surfaces ready for the next steps of the transformation.
Because the original finish was in excellent shape for the most part but super slick, Dixie Belle Bonding Boss (in gray seeingthe paint color will be gray) was required to provide a base for the paint to adhere best. The image above shows all 9 drawers and the matching nightstand after the first coat was applied with a 2" angled synthetic brush.
After making room on my workbench, I managed to get the dresser, a real beast, up onto it, having already given the top a coat of Bonding Boss while it was on the floor.
The dresser body received a coat of Bonding Boss, ensuring a strong, even base, and the drawer fronts received a second coat again using the 2" angled synthetic brush. This meticulous application was crucial for a professional, long-lasting finish, guaranteeing complete coverage and optimal adhesion.
Once the Boss had dried for at least 24 hours, it was time to apply the first coat of paint. The customer chose "Wharf" Dixie Belle silk mineral paint. The image above shows the significant difference between the primer and paint colors.
Four hours after the first coat was applied, a second coat of Boss was applied to the dresser body, and it was left for a couple of days to dry thoroughly.
Once everything was thoroughly dry, I gave all the surfaces another sponge sanding. Then, the drawers received a second coat of gray paint, and the dresser got its first coat.
The original hardware is remaining, however, I cleaned it thoroughly with my go-to Scrubby Soap and then dried it. The built in sponge/soap makes getting in the crevices easy.
Be sure when painting the long top of this dresser you keep a wet edge and make long sweeping brush motions from side to side.
The dresser received its second coat of grey paint and was left to dry thoroughly overnight. I was working on the nightstand concurrently, but that project will be featured in a separate tutorial.
Once it was good and dry I used wrapping paper (repurposed from my Amazon orders) to "sand" the surfaces buttery smooth. It is the equivalent of 1500 grit sandpaper.
Pro Tip: When painting large dressers with multiple drawers, label the back of each drawer as you remove them. Even on high-quality vintage pieces, they are often "worn-in" to their specific slots and fit best when returned to their original positions!
Another sign of quality built has this already done for you as shown above in blue. There is also a chalk number 6 you can see that was written on the back end of the corresponding drawer.
The dresser painting is complete.
The cleaned original hardware was put back on pairing nicely with the new gray color.
The lighting in the above photo shows them darker but this color will morph in a room as well depending on wall colors and lighting too.
Here is the dresser back at home in the master bedroom
For your convenience, I've included links to the Dixie Belle products I use. Please note that my affiliation with Dixie Belle doesn't increase your prices. Instead, your purchases through my links may provide a small subsidy that helps me continue creating and sharing these free tutorials. Thank you for your support! The Amazon affiliate links are for your convenience to see the products I used as well. Ordering via the links may get me a small commission but does not affect your pricing. Thank you if you do choose to order them.
FEATURED ON
Shared up at these great link up parties
Oh, my goodness, that dresser! My parents married in the 1950's and this is very similar to the dresser in their bedroom set, right down to the drawer pulls. Beautiful renovation!
ReplyDeleteThank you Leslie, I appreciate your kind words
DeleteThis looks really great. And I love the colour you have gone for. I would love it if you would join me for my monthly Sharing Serenity link party at https://serenityyou.com/sharing-serenity-the-monthly-link-party/ - Natasha xxx
ReplyDelete