DIY Ombre Dresser

My, my.  It seems like all poor Trey does every weekend is pick things up I find on craigslist and paint them.  I know he is sick of it, but luckily we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as painting projects go.

When I was deciding how to layout the twins nursery, I wanted the cribs to be placed perpendicular to the wall to create some interest in the room (so it wasn't just a wall of cribs).  In order to separate the two crib spaces, I was scouring CL for a tall but narrow dresser that could fit in between the two.

I came across this antique white dresser, and even though it was more than I wanted to pay, the dimensions and shape were perfect for what I was looking for.  So, I once again sent Trey out to get it and gave him instructions on how I wanted it painted.  

I love the ombre dresser look for kids room and thought this would be a fun thing to try.  I selected a color strip from a Benjamin Moore paint deck and got the tiny sample sizes of each color to paint on each of the 5 drawers.  

For some (annoying) reason, sample sizes only come in flat or eggshell finishes, so we opted for the eggshell and then had to add a coat of satin poly on top.
There were quite a few blemishes on the actual piece that needed sanding/patching before painting (and we primed the entire piece too), but once everything was complete it now looks like this!  

In addition to our changing table, I know this extra storage is really going to come in handy!  I love how bright and cheerful it is :)  

Note: In case you can't read the swatch above, colors used are BM "clear skies", "old pickup blue", "seaside blue", "blue lagoon" and "venezuelan sea".  The rest of the piece was just painted plain white that we found in the garage!

Vintage Campaign Dresser

Y'all.  I am really excited about my latest Craigslist find....a vintage campaign dresser!  

(In my excited state I forgot to take a real before photo, but here is the image from the post...screen shot from my iphone)

I have ALWAYS wanted one of these.  I'm sure many of you have seen the numerous re-do's on pinterest.

When I saw the ad posted, I immediately replied as quickly as I could type, but was disappointed when the response was that a couple people were interested in the "set" before me.  The "set" being the dresser and a matching twin headboard (I had just inquired about the dresser).  

I don't need another twin headboard, but I figure I'm having three boys so eventually I'll be able to use it one day (after an upholstery makeover of course...another future project).

Anyways, the person selling had his number on the return email so I called him and said I would take the set, didn't need to see them first, and could pick up right away.  I wanted that dresser!

Trey went and picked it up for me that afternoon and he worked on it over the course of one week.  Unfortunately, the wood grain of the piece was a little too visible, so my dreams of a lacquered finish weren't going to work (the glossier the paint, the more imperfections show up!)  

Also, another disappointment was the hardware was not brass, instead it was a galvanized metal (bleh).  Although I prefer real brass, I figured we could spray paint the hardware to get the effect.

To make things a little on the tough side, the L-brackets were not screwed in and we didn't want to damage them by trying to remove, so Trey had to spray paint the hardware while on the dresser after taping it off.  

The drawer hardware was easier because it could be unscrewed.  The primer we used was  Rustoleum's metal primer to ensure the paint would stick with heavy, everyday use.  Then, we used Design Master's Gold Medal spray paint on top.

 

Then, Trey primed the rest of the dresser with a brush (I didn't want to risk getting drips if we spray painted.)

And for the color we debated between Benjamin Moore's Narragansett Green and Polo Blue.  Trey really wanted the deep navy polo and I was leaning towards the Narragansett.  

Guess who won?

(In case you can't tell, it was me) :)

I'm thrilled with how this turned out.  I especially love how the color of the dresser changes depending on the time of day.  When I was originally looking on CL for a dresser, it was for Ward's room (so I could move his changing table into the nursery). But I love the campaign so much I decided to move it into our bedroom, and Ward inherited our old wooden dresser.  If I can ever get to styling the dresser/mirror/lamp vignette I will include photos later :)

Now on to wrapping up the nursery...I have lots to share on it later!