The Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest Dresser Revamp

Ok y’all…I’m taking the plunge!  I have entered the September contest for The Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest!  This is a monthly contest started by some wonderfully talented bloggers:

I had the pleasure of meeting Evey and Lynn at Haven this year and vowed to enter their contest!  So I did and there was an extra special treat…

It just so happens that this month’s contest is being sponsored by General Finishes and who doesn’t love GF?  Each participant was provided one GF product to use in their project.  This month’s theme is Geometric Design…we were challenged to flip an item with a geometric design.  I had the perfect dresser waiting patiently for a makeover…

Originally, this piece had no paint on it.  It was water or heat damaged and the original light oak finish was chipping and peeling.

I had actually started to paint this about 6 months ago but I couldn’t decide what color to use after I started with the white so it sat and sat and sat.  When the geometric theme was announced, I knew that this was the perfect piece for this contest.

I decided to use Annie Sloan Off White on the drawer fronts and inserts.  I have been dying to try another of GF’s gel stain colors.  I had previously used Java Gel Stain with great success.  Check it out here.  But I wanted a different color.  And of course I found it on GF’s website…GREY!

We have a ton of customers at The Blue Building who shop for their beach houses and lake houses.  So I thought a beachy, grey washed finish would be perfect!  I tested it on a drawer and it was a go!

First step, completely sand the piece so that the stain would adhere.  As I said, this piece had the original light oak stain.  It was chipping, peeling and very old.  So a complete sanding was necessary.

Next, I painted the back plates and edges of each drawer with Annie Sloan Off White.  I had to sand the wooden trim detail on the drawers to remove the white chalk paint that I had gotten onto the oak.

While I was doing that, I accidentally sanded part of the white insert on the drawer front causing a bit of a more rustic or shabby appearance.

Now, those of you who have been to The Blue Building and have seen some of the pieces that I love to refurbish, know that I am an uber distresser.  To me, there is no such thing as too much distressing or sanding on a piece.  Additional sanding and distressing adds so much more interest to the piece by creating texture and depth.  The shabbier, the better in my opinion.  However, I do respect the fact that many folks do not like distressed edging.   Uber distressing can be very upsetting to these individuals.  So…how much is too much?  And how to decide??!!!  I set 2 drawers side by side for comparison.  Since I was going for a beachy and rustic feel…yes you guessed it UBER wins!  If it were to be an elegant piece, less sanding and distressing would be appropriate.  But I imagine this piece in a fun-filled lake or beach house!!!

Finally, I got to break out the General Finishes Grey Gel Stain.  I applied a light coat with a cotton rag. On the top,  I pulled the rag the entire length to ensure that the finish was consistent.

There were a few spots that were too light so I applied another light coat directly on top of the first coat.  NOTE:  The spots were lighter because I didn’t sand as heavily on these areas before applying the gel stain.

What I love about GF gel stain is that the application is not streaky or splotchy.  After one coat, I was satisfied with the coverage.  I wanted a light, beachy, washed look.

I continued along the sides of the dresser and the drawer edges.

After lightly sanding the edges of the drawers and the entire dresser, the final step was to seal the white chalk paint with polycrylic.  The Gel Stain did not need to be sealed since it already contains a sealer!  Yay!

What do you think???  Here she is…

I kind of got carried away with my final staging.  As I walked through my store, I saw so many different accessories that I couldn’t resist staging this piece in several ways.

First, I tried a more modern look:

Next, I had to go with beachy:

And more beachy:

These days, there are several types of beachy:

And then, just for fun I used some of MY favorite things:

Which is your favorite????

Thanks to The Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest for the challenge and to General Finishes for the wonderful paint product!

I will be sharing some of the other entries on my facebook page!  Check out the projects completed by this month’s co-hosts Lynn of On Fern Avenue and Carrie of Thirty Eighth Street.  This contest has been so much fun!  If you are interested in participating please contact http://info@fabfurnitureflippincontest.com.