The blue dresser.  You have brought me so much joy and so much heartache.  It is bittersweet that I said goodbye to you this weekend.  I will not have an accompanying tutorial with this video, but it’s one of my favorite pieces so I want to share!

Jason and I have a 2 car garage.  There isn’t a ton of extra stuff in our garage, but he wants to be able to park two vehicles in there.  Now that we have a teenage driver and a third car, he REALLY wants to park two cars in there.  So, while supportive of my endeavors, he still occasionally complains about the extra furniture in the garage taking up space meant for a car.  When I found this dresser on Craigslist, I knew that I had to have it if it was still available.  I didn’t tell Jason about it until I had checked it out, paid for it, picked it up, and delivered it to my mom and dads roomy, 3-car garage!  He didn’t care as long as it wasn’t being refinished at our house!  The seller lived just across the duck pond from us so it was a super easy pick up and delivery.

It was so gorgeous and in such great shape that I wanted to get started right away.  My mom and I had junking plans the following day, but I had to sand and stain the top and drawers before we could go!  There was just a tiny bit of water damage on the top but otherwise, it was in perfect condition.  You always want to make sure the drawers slide nicely when purchasing a dresser – or be prepared to put some work and $$ into them.  After a bit of light sanding on the top, I added a thin layer of General Finishes Java Gel stain on the dresser top and drawer fronts.  This beautiful oak just soaked the stain up!  It looked beautiful right away.  I knew that I wanted to get at least 3 rich coats on, though so we weren’t done just yet.

I had decided that I was going to paint the dresser grey.  Everyone loves grey.  Everything we have painted grey has sold pretty quickly.  I’m getting tired of grey.  We went to DoOverz in Urbandale.  It’s a furniture consignment store, so it’s a little high for purchasing to refinish and then sell BUT, it’s perfect if you’re looking for a new personal piece to refinish or keep as your own.  The store is huge and full and amazing!  Anyway, they also have a paint section.  I walked into the little cubby and found Dixie Belle chalk paint in Yankee Blue and just knew I had to do something different!  It’s a gorgeous and rich denim blue and just different from any color I have used before.  I knew I had to try it!

For the next few days, I stained and painted in my parents garage while they sat behind me and visited.  We were so amazed by the transformation and just fell in love with how beautiful it was turning out!  First, I finished the paint and we were amazed by how beautiful the color was.  Then, I carefully distressed all of the gorgeous detail across the front.  By itself, I thought this dresser was a a little grand for my taste, but once we added the rich blue and distressed, it was adorable and warm!  After adding the satin coats of varnish, it was hard to contain ourselves!  It was like a brand new puppy had just appeared in the garage.  I tell you, if you want to be in a room of warm fuzzies (flashback to Southeast Elementary) hang out with my mom and dad!  Either this dresser had turned out amazing or they were masters at blowing smoke up my fanny!

The end part of this dresser is the hardware.  When I removed the pulls, I had visions of adorable knobs for the top drawers and painted lower pulls.  I WAS NOT putting the lions head knockers back on.  Seriously.  We laid the fixtures out and  decided that since I was painting the other pulls, I should just paint the lions heads to see how they turned out.  My mom said that the clothing designer Anne Klein loved lions so I should just try it.  Well if it’s good enough for Anne Klein!   I took them home and added two coats of Rust-oleum spray paint that is good for use on metal.  The end result was gorgeous!  The dull, drab lions head pulls we now glossy and bold!  I was actually excited to add them and see how they looked!   The hardware makes such a difference.  I always love putting it back on for the final result. It’s like adding fresh cut flowers to a beautiful cake!Look at those pulls!  They are stinking adorable!

I have amazing parents. Growing up, I have always been told I can do anything, be anything. My parents are my biggest cheerleaders and think everything I do is amazing. I am passing the same onto my children. 🙂  My mom also should have been an interior decorator. She has a knack for color and an appreciation and eye for beautiful furniture. Combine these two and according to her, my finished pieces should be worth thousands!  Haha!  Which explains my following actions. We were basking in the excitement of this finished masterpiece and I ended up pricing it at $450.  I posted it online and then left for a bike ride with jason.  I expected to come home to a bidding war. It was more like crickets. Many people saved it, but I came to realize they were saving it for when I brought the price down to a reasonable range. I kept lowering it $50 here, $75 there and still no bites. A few low offers but I wasn’t willing to cave just yet.  I became FB marketplace obsessed.  My mom and I were searching and measuring our own homes for where we could find a place for it. “Do we really need a couch in the living room?” I asked Jason one day. His response “I never liked that couch anyway!” He’s supposed to keep me grounded!

I began to realize that A. I should have priced it lower and B. It should have been grey. If only people could see it’s true beauty in person. Anyway, I finally decided that it needed to be painted. It broke my heart, but my lovely blue dresser would be re-painted. I made one last post on Repurposed Charm that I would be painting the dresser cream or grey and waited for recommendations. Then along came Beda. She had previously “liked” a few of my pieces but had commented on the blue dresser. I had come down to her price point and she did not want to see if painted!  She drove over to my parents house to see it and decided she had to have it. I am so happy to know it is happily placed in the home of someone who appreciates it!  AND, it turns out that Beda is my neighbor. What a small little world!  

This adventure was a learning experience in pricing and color.  I will continue to be adventurous with my color choices but I will also try to keep my prices reasonable. Keeping true to myself.  Life is a journey and I love this part of it!