Mid-century tallboy dresser makeover

 Hello! I’m Reeves from The Weathered Door and I’m back to share another furniture makeover with you!

 

This mid century tallboy dresser is part of the Broyhill Tribute line. I bought the dresser off of my local Seattle Craigslist and was excited to get started working on it right away. I loved the lion head pulls (not original) that had been added to the top 2 drawers at some point. They make the dresser a little bit more unique.

The dresser had a laminate top but there was also pretty walnut veneer. I originally planned to paint the entire piece in a bold color, but I knew I had to try and keep some part of the piece wood. I love the white and walnut two-tone look on mid century credenzas, but not as much on tall dressers. Instead I chose to paint the frame white, the bottom set of drawers grey, and stain the top set of drawers in dark walnut.

 

I first began by stripping the top drawers. I recently made a video tutorial on how to strip furniture using CitriStrip which walks you through the whole process. Check it out of you want to know the process and learn some tips. There was very little topcoat left on the piece so the drawers were pretty easy to strip. It was tricky getting around the detail, but in the video I show how to wash off all the leftover residue and it works really well for pieces that have details like these drawers. 

 

Once the drawers were stripped I let them dry for 24 hours and then sanded and stained them in Rustoleum’s Ultimate Dark Walnut stain. For the frame of the piece I lightly sanded with 150 grit sandpaper and then used spray primer (Zinsser Cover Stain) to prevent bleed-through and act as a bond coat for the paint. I also made sure to use all the precautionary steps for painting over laminate, check that out here. Next I applied 3 coats of General Finishes ‘Snow White’ milk paint (it’s an acrylic based paint) to the frame of the dresser. 

 

The same process was used for the drawers. First primer, then 3 coats of General Finishes ‘Seagull Grey’. All paint was applied with an HVLP sprayer for a smooth finish and I sanded in between coats with a fine grit sanding sponge. After the piece cured for 24-48 hours all surfaces were sealed with GF’s high performance topcoat in satin. The topcoat was also applied with a sprayer! The lion head pulls on the top drawers were not original, but I did leave them. The pulls on the bottom 3 drawers are original and I just shined them up and reapplied them to the drawers. I can’t lie, I was a little worried about how this piece would turn out halfway through the process, but I love the colors and the subtle light grey on the lower drawers.

 

 

Thanks so much for letting me share with you today! I’d love it if you would check out my blog and follow along over at The Weathered Door where I share furniture Before & Afters as well as DIY and home decor projects. Stay connected and see what else I’m working on: