It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! In case you missed it, last month’s furniture makeover theme was “words/letters”. My feed sack chair was a fun and funky project that still has me on the hunt for more feed sacks. It’s a must see, trust me. This month’s theme is “RED” – oh yeah. Time for a farmhouse dresser makeover. Yay!
I like red, especially this time of year. I have no idea why red is associated with Christmas, but it’s such a festive color, so why not? Before I even knew the theme for this month, I had already envisioned my piece as red, so it was an easy decision on which one to make over.
Festive, right? I wanted a rustic, farmhouse dresser and I got what I wanted. Let’s start at the beginning…
This dresser was one of the three pieces that came home with me after the garage sale around the corner I mentioned in
my dolled up dresser makeover last week.
I will admit the ornate highboy first caught my attention, but this one made me smile. It has such lovely form and I have a thing for skeleton key holes. There’s such a mystery as to why people thought they needed to lock up their clothes and possessions when most of the time they didn’t even lock their doors.
It would have delighted me to no end to bring this piece back to its original glory. The peeling veneer was just not repairable and the damaged top was far too gone with chunks missing from where a mirror had sat, not to mention the deep stains.
Take a look at the drawers…see how the previous owner tried to nail down the lifting veneer? Though I don’t like the peeling look, I do like the nail heads. Yes, I’m funky that way. tsk.
However, If you take a closer look, you’ll see that the dresser had already had a red coat on at some point, and someone decided to strip it down. That’s probably when the veneer was mostly damaged.
Since I liked the blonde color of the wood, I decided to try to remove that peeling veneer and see what I got beneath.
If you ever get a piece with veneer that needs removed, just do like I mentioned in my
10 Furniture Refinishing Essentials post. Soak some bath towels and lay them on overnight or for 8 hours.
That veneer will come off like butter off of a hot knife, I tell ya. SOOO much easier than scraping and nicking your knuckles. Ask me how I know.
Once the veneer was removed, I was left with a surface that just needed some sanding TLC.
Can you tell those pulls are not original? I saw no sense in spending money on trying to locate some authentic pulls, so I took my Rub N’ Buff and gave them an antique feel. You can find it here:
AMACO Rub ‘n Buff Wax Metallic Finish in Ebony
It’s much more appropriate than bright shiny silver, don’t you think?
Here is the farmhouse dresser ready for a new red look with veneer removed. Sigh… It is already that time of year when I have to paint inside because it’s like January in November now.
I was going after an old worn layered look and to achieve that I used a base coat of green. My kids would walk by and say, “I thought you were painting red?” To which I’d reply, “You’ll see.”
When I started the red, my four-year old boy announced, “That doesn’t look too good.” Ha! I love the innocence of that age.
Who can blame him? At first you would think, yick.
After the red coat, I sanded the red down so that the green would peek through and also some of the wood was revealed. I finished off with a topcoat of a dark hand-rubbed wax. Now it looks like an old barn finish with it’s deep red color.
Those rustic worm holes and spots where the nails had been just screamed character to me and I love how the core of the drawer is now showing and displaying the story of days gone by. Nothing done to them except a good coating of linseed oil to draw out the natural color and grain of the mismatched wood.
Here’s a fun split to see the difference.
Since this piece was missing casters, I was able to dig back into my caster stash I was blessed with. I’m so thankful I was able to put this dresser back on its rightful feet.
Ooh, I just love the rustic feel and the red is exactly how I had envisioned it. Now this farmhouse dresser is ready for the holidays and to add that special rustic touch to a farmhouse somewhere. It actually sold quickly from
my shop and is now residing in the Caribbean!
Now the dresser is in the spirit of the holiday and my heifer head, affectionately named Maybelle, is too. Moo. You can get one
HERE.
Do pin and share to inspire others to see past the flaws and what can be found underneath.
FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER
More makeover and DIY fun like this farmhouse dresser:
Don’t forget that there are all sorts of fun stories of “RED” being shared by my fellow furniture makeover ladies, so head on over to see what they’ve come up with. Prepare to be inspired!
Licorice Stick gloss red to be exact. Only minor sanding and a bit of veneer repair was needed as prep work.
Isn’t it fun?! I love what I do and that my client fell in love with it.
