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Coral Dresser for the Guest Bedroom

Yesterday I finished painting the dresser for the guest room - I used a custom mix of Annie Sloan chalk paint - Barcelona Orange and Emperors Silk to make a coral. I used about 3/4 of a quart of Barcelona Orange to a tester size of Emperors Silk. Id recommend starting with less orange, since you can always mix more in :)


This little dresser has come a LONG way ...


I started with this $25 craigslist find - good construction with solid wood dove tailed drawers but a formica top ?? No clue why that was decided ... but I thought this would be a good test for the Annie Sloan chalk paint which says that it can be painted on anything without priming.

Back to loading it in the car ... once it was in the car I realized that it had some water damage on the bottom (I really need to look more carefully from now on...) I wouldnt of bought it if I had seen that, but figured that I could come up with a creative solution ...

After realizing that I couldnt sand it down I took the hammer to the front and cut off the sides with the jigsaw


With both sides off - we built a frame out of 1 x 3s to attach the new legs to



Drilled holes for the threaded anchor


Inserted the threaded anchor in the hole


and attached the legs (purchased from Lowes)

The whole piece was sanded minimally and took three coats of the chalk paint ...

I decided to keep the original hardware since the top drawer had so much hardware, which = lots of $$ - and I wanted to try refinishing them anyways

I gave them a coat of Rustoleum oil rubbed bronze 

 and re attached once dry


What a difference! So far I have been incredibly happy with the chalk paint - it was easy to apply, adhered well, dries quickly, has low VOCs and seems to be very durable. Also, clean up a breeze - a brush can rinse clean with just water!




I love the fun pop of color that this adds to the space!

and one last before and after



I love how it is now lifted off of the ground - it makes is look less heavy!

I was ambivalent about using coral, but now that I see it with the lamp shade and next to the other fabrics in the room I am loving the direction that it is taking!

The lampshade was covered in this fabric - look for a tutorial soon!

We are buying the wood for the headboard tomorrow ... wish me luck that I can finish it by the weekend (when our vip guests arrive!)

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