I recently moved across the country and into a new home. To celebrate and give us a hand moving in, my parents are coming to stay with us for several weeks. I thought it would be nice to give them a space for their clothes, so I picked up this dresser for just forty dollars on Facebook Marketplace.
It doesn't have any drawer pulls and it looks like the previous owner went a bit DIY crazy with gold spray paint, but otherwise, the dresser was in great functional shape and the drawers all slid well. When buying a dresser, I often look for dovetail joinery on the side. This indicates it's probably made out of solid wood.
Come along with me while we make this piece modern farmhouse perfection!
Cleaning
We are starting, as always, with a deep cleaning. Today I tried something new: Tide. That's right, a half scoop of powdered Tide mixed right into my hot water bucket. I've been using Tide to clean my home over the past couple of months, and it works wonders cleaning up gunk in the bathroom and kitchen. I figured greasy furniture would be no different, and what do you know, this actually worked pretty well. I did have to scrub a bit here and there, so I'm not sure whether it is better than my regular TSP alternative, but it's great to know that I'll always have good old Tide available as a backup.
Sanding
We are going to be using milk paint today, which means I will need to scuff sand all over to help the paint adhere correctly. This piece is quite glossy and still has that smooth factory finish, so I'm taking a coarse 80-grit sandpaper and scuffing up every nook and cranny. If you're using milk paint over an existing finish other than bare wood, sanding is absolutely vital. Do not skip this step. Once I'm done, I'm using a damp rag to wipe away all that dust.
Painting the Body
I am using Coal Black Milk Paint by Homestead House. It's a rich yet soft black, and I've used this once before on another dresser that turned out beautiful. The last time I used it, though, I did find it to have a bit of a cooler undertone, so I'm mixing in a bit of Magnolia Pure by Shackteau Interiors to warm it up.
I'm mixing the powder one to one with water and shaking really well in between. You do not want any clumps with this stuff. I'm also adding a good chunk of extra bond, which is a bonding agent to help the paint adhere.
On its own, milk paint tends to flake off, which can be its own beautiful rustic finish, but today we are going for a full coverage look. Plus, we have the glossy previous finish to contend with, so again, this is an absolute must. I left the paint mixture to set for 10 or so minutes after mixing, and then it was time to paint.
Milk paint is much thinner than chalk paint, so the first layer can often be a bit underwhelming. All we are looking for here is a smooth and light layer on every surface. The coverage will come with subsequent layers.
I know milk paint isn't as common as chalk paint, and you may think that they are interchangeable, but I really do think they give different looks. Chalk paint is thick and textured, whereas milk paint is thin and smooth. The end look is almost like an enamel or an opaque glaze, and I absolutely love it.
When mixing up milk paint, especially with a custom color like this, you always want to make more than you think you'll need. I keep it in a sealable container too. This gives me about a day or two to use it up.
I did three coats in total with about two hours between each. Once that all dried, I did a very gentle, fine grit sanding over all of the flat surfaces. This isn't distressing yet, but rather smoothing out any fine lines, very, very gently. I grabbed a damp cloth to wipe back the dust, and then it was time to move on to the drawers.
Painting the Drawers
So, these drawers are solid wood, and I can tell that because of the scrolling pattern that is routed right into the face of them. I'm going to take my remaining black paint and get inside those grooves, and you'll see why in just a second. I did just two coats to start with, then grabbed my orbital sander and headed outside.
Now here is where this piece really starts to take shape. I am going to sand the drawer fronts down to bare wood with an 80-grit sanding pad, and just like magic, all my messy lines are cleaned up. I am left with a beautiful contrast: fresh, clean wood versus dark, deep black grooves, all with a perfect edge. So satisfying.
The side of my drawer fronts needed to be hand-sanded, so I grabbed my sanding sponge with a coarse grit and got right to it.
Once all that dust was cleaned up, I also grabbed a small artist brush and used the last little bit of paint to go back through the grooves for a final coat. I pushed the paint mostly into the center of each groove and avoided the edges. At this point, I already had great coverage. I just wanted to sharpen the color and get it as black as possible.
Distressing
We are in the home stretch now. I am going to do some light distressing around the body of the dresser with a medium-grit sandpaper. I'm hitting all the major corners and edges while avoiding the flat panels.
This step is optional and up to personal preference. You can go with no distressing for a more modern feel, light distressing like I did, or go heavy for a shabby chic look. It's totally up to you.
Sealing
After cleaning that dust up, I am sealing with good old furniture wax on both the body and the drawer fronts. I find wax pairs really well with milk paint. It seems to soak it up to a smooth shine without any sticky, tacky feel. I'm applying the wax with a wax brush, and then I work it in with a lint-free cloth.
An optional step here could be to stain the wood drawer fronts before you wax it, but I decided to let the natural wood color shine. I find wax helps deepen the beauty of the wood in a similar way to how an oil might. It's really lovely.
I'm also taking the time to wax the wood sliders, and this really helps the drawers slide smoothly.
Hardware
Now all that's left is some hardware upgrades. This dresser seems to be from the early 2000s era, which means it actually has a plastic slider guide on the back of each drawer. A few of those were missing, so I ordered them online and screwed the new ones in place, easy peasy!
I also installed new cup pulls on the drawers. These are three-inch antique brass pulls. I was between these and regular straight bar pulls but chose these as they were a bit more country. Choosing hardware is so much fun!
The Reveal
Beautiful! This look is fresh and clean yet purposeful, fun, and a little bit country, which I love. The bare wood in contrast with the dark black body is stellar. It really allows that grain to shine, and those black scroll grooves are just perfect.
This was such a fun project, and I cannot wait to make good use of it in my home. Would you do anything differently? Let me know! I'm always open to improving.
Thanks for sticking around, and I'll catch you on the flip side.