I came across this beautiful dresser on kijiji one day at a steal of a deal. I LOVE this french provincial style!!
It's so beautiful and detailed and SOLID - no way will this fall apart any time soon!
I had taken a Plaster Paint (like chalk paint) class at a store called Real Deals before Christmas and decided to use Plaster Paint for the job.
I painted 2 coats of the Plaster Paint called "Ivory Lace". I had a few spots where the wood was still slightly showing through, but I left that in for some character. I also used a small brush for painting as plaster paint dries very fast and you have to work in small sections. Tip: If you want the paint to be a bit thinner, pour some into a jar and add a touch of water to it! It will spread a little easier and stretch the paint can a bit further too.
This paint is AWESOME to work with!! I am in love with how easy it is! All I did to prep was wipe everything down and sand down a chipped rough spot... I didn't have to sand down the dresser OR remove any of the varnish. Do you know how much time that takes? Plaster Paint can cover it all! It does go on almost like a primer paint finish - it's a matte finish and a bit rough to the touch. You have to "seal" the paint with wax (instead of a varnish) and then it turns into a beautiful smooth and somewhat glossy finish (depending how much you buff it).
The Plaster Paint company also sells its own clear wax which you can tint with any color yourself to get the exact color you want (or just leave clear), but I still had some of my "Natural" Minwax Finishing Paste wax leftover from a previous job, so I wanted to test that out first. I was worried that the Natural paste wax would be too yellow for my dresser, but with just one coat, it gave it a nice aged look to the white.
Here in my sample board, you can see the original white paint color in the middle. The dark coats on the left and far left are variations of the Minwax "Natural" and "Dark" wax mixed together... I thought it was too dark.
The lightest coat to the right of the middle original color is one coat of the Minwax "Natural" color and the far right is 2 coats... I chose the lightest one for my project.
My sweet helper - cheering me on with smiles and toothless chatter
I decided not to do any distressing to the dresser (as the color was just too pretty to ruin haha) and using a small brush, I "painted" on the wax. After letting it dry a bit to the touch, I used a soft cloth (rag from an old tshirt) and buffed the wax to a slight shine. It looks beautiful!!
Check out these original beautiful drawer pulls! I am in love with this elegant style and will leave them just as they are.
Project complete!
Has anyone else used Plaster Paint or some sort of chalk paint for a furniture remodel? I'd love to see your photos - link in the comments!
