Today we are transforming this old dresser I got from Goodwill for $60.
It's solid, heavy, and built well with dovetail joinery on the drawers. But the finish has seen better days. There are scratches and scuffs all over, plus I'd like to update the color.
I'll also be sharing my opinion on Rust-Oleum's Milk Paint, so let's get right into it!
Stripping & Sanding
Like many old pieces, this dresser has a beautiful wood veneer covered in a thick, dark varnish. After I've cleaned this guy up, I'm going to start by applying CitriStrip to the top with a chip brush. Then I'm going to cover that in saran wrap and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, I'm going to pull out all the drawers and once I have the handles off and stored in a safe location, I'm going to start scuff sanding them with my surf prep sander.
While I would love to keep the 100% wood look, getting this varnish off of every nook and cranny is way too much work. So that's why I'm going to focus on reclaiming the top and keeping that wood, and then the rest will all be painted, which is a great compromise you see very often in refinished furniture.
Once the CitriStrip has had a chance to work, I'm going to pull that plastic off and start scraping away the goop with a putty knife. I'll go until I have as much off as possible and put all this into the garbage. Then I'm going to come back with some steel wool and mineral spirits to help neutralize the rest of the paint stripper and work directly on any stubborn bits that are left.
Using paint stripper is always a messy process, and I am certainly no expert, but I do know that it's important to take your time and also be as tidy as possible.
I am finally getting down to the real wood, which is so exciting. There are a few pieces of varnish left here and there, which means I could keep going with another round of paint stripper, but what I'm noticing is the veneer is really thick. So that allows me to grab my sander and use that to get this last little bit off the top.
This worked very well. I did as much as I dared without sanding through any of the veneer. I had to follow up on the edges with a piece of sandpaper in my hand to make sure I got every last little bit off.
Finally, I'm onto scuff sanding the body, and then we're going to clean this all up and bring this guy inside because we are ready to paint!
Painting
I am using Rust-Oleum's Milk Paint in a black color called Eclipse, and I have mixed feelings about this paint, mostly because I'm not entirely sure what it is.
Milk paint is typically a powder of milk protein, lime, and other natural ingredients that you mix with water right on the spot before you paint. This is a pre-mixed liquid in a can, which is very convenient. I picked it up from my local Lowe's, which is also very convenient. But it's not applying like the milk paint I'm used to.
I'm finding that my brush pulls the wet paint off as I glide it over, as opposed to smoothing it out into a nice clean consistency. This product is not as thin as the milk paint I'm used to, but it's also not thick like chalk paint.
I did three coats total on the body and the drawers, which is about the same as I would do with regular milk paint. I did not sand in between, and I did not need a primer, so that's all the same. But in the end, I had a rougher texture than I would have liked.
I also found it did not take furniture wax very well, which we'll get to in a minute. But first, we're going to go back to the wood and stain the top of this dresser.
Staining
I am using the color Early American by Varathane, which is a go-to around my house for a medium-dark color wood. I applied one layer with a lint-free cloth, and I was careful along the edges not to touch too much of the paint. I wasn't really sure how it would react there, and I wanted to keep my lines nice and crisp. Once that was done, I came back with a clean, new lint-free cloth just to wipe off any excess.
Sealing
We are onto sealing and all our finishing touches. I am using Jolie's clear finishing wax and applying it with a natural bristle wax brush, then working it in with a lint-free cloth.
Wax likes to be rubbed in, almost like moisturizer into your skin. You can work it into a nice satin sheen that I love. Furniture wax is a dream to work with on a wood surface, it's so satisfying the way it works in. It's not as durable as a topcoat as maybe a polyurethane or some of the other products out there, but this dresser is not really going to be heavily used, so I'm happy with the protection wax will give.
Normal milk paint absorbs wax really well and almost lets it settle in nicely, but this paint does not. It was really hard to achieve the right consistency, and there were stubborn dull patches that just wouldn't work in. I got there in the end; it was just more work than I was expecting.
Distressing
This is when I realized I forgot to distress the paint before sealing!
That's okay. I actually ended up taking sandpaper and distressing right over top of the wax, which worked surprisingly well. All I needed to do was come back with my wax-filled lint-free cloth or my wax brush and just put a little bit over top to kind of resettle that paint the way it was.
As always, distressing is totally up to you how much you want to do. I like a medium amount, so I went along all of the corners and edges, anywhere that this piece might naturally degrade or be worn over time, and I just let my hand kind of do what it needed to do organically.
Hardware
Our last step is reinstalling hardware, and I chose to upgrade to these brass industrial-style very masculine handle pulls that I got from Amazon.
Hardware is such a great way to update a piece of furniture, even if you're not painting it. Take a look around your house; you might find some good places where a new pull or handle might make a world of difference.
The Reveal
This dresser is giving me dark and mysterious, almost apothecary-style vibes. All of the work stripping that top was well worth it. There's a nice rich color with the stain, and the paint did pull through in the end, though it was convenient. I'm not sure if I'll be buying it again, though.
If you have any experience with this product or any opinions, I'd love to hear them along with any suggestions of what I can do better in the future. I will see you next time.