Painting Furniture White - The Vintage Dresser

There's no doubt about it, one of the most popular make-overs for old furniture is to paint it white. And it's easy to see why it is so popular- white is fresh but elegant and fits with nearly every decor style, whether that be retro (my personal favourite), shabby chic, French Provincial, vintage, farmhouse, coastal.... you get the idea.

Here's my latest white makeover. It is simply gorgeous. It's amazing how fresh an old piece can look with a fresh coat of paint.

I must admit, I found the prospect of this project quite daunting- but was pleasantly surprised. Even though there's a lot of detail in the woodwork, it sanded reasonably easily due to the age of the piece. And the smooth surface made painting easy too- time consuming due to the size of the piece, but not too challenging.

 

I used my trusty British Paints 4 in 1 Primer and British Paints Enamel White in Semi Gloss (only a tiny amount of shine- just enough to look fresh) 

 

Here are some before and after pics to compare:

 

 

I love this dresser for the little details too- in the top drawers of the dresser I found this gorgeous drawer lining paper. Pink paper with flowers and butterflies- you can't get much more shabby chic than that!

And check out the handles- so intricate and detailed, with just the right amount of ageing.

Also, the detail in the legs and bars that hold the mirror just make this piece so special.
Yep, I love it and could go on and on!

Do you have any pieces that you would like to paint white? Please share your own projects!

 

 

 

French Provincial Shabby Hall Table

Perfect place for all my teacups!

I'm so happy to finally reveal my latest project as this one seemed to take a little longer than the others.

I saw this little beauty on Gum Tree looking a little worse for wear. And as usual, I forgot to take a real 'before' photo- I realised when I had nearly finished sanding so you can just see the original colour on the left of the drawer.



Here is the 'Before' photo...

I immediately loved the shape and could see the potential. My friend Penny always suggests white legs, timber top so I thought I would go for it. After some sanding I used a spray primer. It's much easier to get into all those nooks and crannies on the legs. Then three coats of my favourite white enamel paint by British Paints, applied with a brush. To finish the piece I used the same cedar stain that I used to finish my turquoise table. Check out my sales page for details of how it could be yours!

I would love to have a whole heap of furniture in this style, but I would love to see in your comments: What dream piece of furniture would you love to own?



And here is the After!

Don't forget to like my Facebook page Retro Vintage Love (just search for it and you should find me easily), you can also follow me on Pinterest- Retro Vintage Love Furniture

 

 

 

Little Blue Shabby Lamp Table

My Shabby Chic table after some Retro Vintage Love!

I cannot describe how much I love this little piece. I love the colour- I knew I wanted to do something blue after seeing some similar furniture in Revenge. See the gorgeous blue desk in the background?




Emily's furniture on Revenge. A shabby chic Hamptons dream!

Love it! I must admit, I am constantly distracted when I watch Revenge because I love both Emily and Victoria's furniture. And I'm not alone... read here for a whole Blog dedicated to Emily's house on Revenge. I have the same issue with A Place to Call Home. Gorgeous 1950s furniture everywhere.

Anyway, back to my latest piece. No long post about the process for painting this one as it was a very straight forward piece. The colour? I cheated! Remember my ombre chest of drawers? I had a heap of left over paint, in various shades of aqua which I mixed together to make this lighter colour.

I love this little hall table for it's natural distressed look. The original piece was a little worn down in parts, it had a few cracks and tiny holes which remained even when painted. All I had to do was distress it a little further after the paint had dried.

Love it too? Of course it's for sale! Check out my sales page for the link.

And just for those interested- the before and after shots.
Happy painting!

 

Chest of Drawers Painted Ombre Turquoise and White

Chest of drawers before any love...

You might have seen this old chest of drawers on my future projects page. This really was a piece that needed a bit of love. When I picked up this baby I found the paint discoloured (varying shades of off-white and yellow) and flaking off. I've tried to show in a close up photograph the condition of this piece before. It's also a bit of a cautionary tale- as tempting as it is to just whip out a can of spray paint and take to your piece of furniture, I don't recommend it! The problem is that without a good primer, the paint simple won't stick (hence the flaking) and the colour of the wood will seep through, causing discolouration. So although the piece might look great for a little while, the effect won't last the distance.


Close up of the condition of the drawers.
Why it's not a great idea to just use spraypaint

Anyway, back to what I did with this piece. After sanding it back I applied two coats of primer. I use British Paints 'Prep 4 in 1' water based primer. I remember when I started painting furniture I spent a lot of time trying to work out if I should use a water based or oil based primer. It can be really confusing when you are reading so many different blogs on 'how to'. In the end I went with the water based and I've stuck with it. I also found it really hard to find names of recommended products that are available in Australia which is why I always try to name the products I use.
I then painted the whole of the outside with a glossy white paint that I've used for all of my 'white projects' so far, British Paints H2O Enamel. This one does not require a top coat and is very smooth. It's quite sticky to paint with so you really need to ensure that the surface is completely clear of dust (and hair!) Another reason to buy a quality brush- the cheap ones tend to drop bristles that you then have to try and fish out without making marks.


All sanded back, labelled and ready to paint

Now for the drawers- I had removed the knobs and filled the holes with wood filler before two coats of primer and then had the fun of creating my graduating ombre colours. Here's a quick tip that I wish I had learned the first time I did a chest of drawers- especially a vintage piece. As you pull out each drawer, label it so that you know which runner to put it back on once it's painted. For some reason they are NEVER uniform. This is especially important if you are doing an ombre piece like this one because the effect will look stupid if it's not graduated, won't it?!
The base colour that I used for drawer 5 is Dulux Green Buoy, the same shade I used on my shabby chic table. I then took out four mixing trays. For each of the drawers I used a tablespoon of Green Buoy plus one tablespoon of H20 Enamel for drawer 4, two tablespoons for drawer 3, three tablespoons for drawer 2 and four tablespoons for drawer 1. Again, two coats for each drawer, screw in your hardware (that's the fancy word for knobs) and she's done!

Are you ready for the after? I love the result of this piece and (yay!) it's for sale... look for the link on my sales page.

 





The finished chest of drawers. Just the right amount of retro cool!





 

What other colour combinations do you think would work really well for an ombre chest of drawers?