Do you remember the vintage dresser I was refinishing?  I finally took a few photos of the ‘after’ to share with you.  It is an old mahogany piece – I’m sure you’ve seen similar pieces.

Most of the furniture I refinish is for others, but this piece is staying with me!

Here are the steps I took to transform the piece:

• Stripped the finish off the top
• Sanded the top with fine grade sandpaper
• Stained the top (in ebony) – I used 2 coats
• Sealed the top – I used 4 coats
• Painted a sealer over the rest of the dresser (to prevent the stain from bleeding through the light color paint)
• Painted the dresser in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White – 2 coats
• Waxed with Annie Sloan clear wax (all but the top)
• Lightly distressed
• Waxed with second coat of Annie Sloan wax in clear (all but the top)

I retained the original hardware without altering it since I love the dark color in combination with the ebony stain on the top of the piece.

Isn’t it beautiful!?  I love it.  I ended up styling my entire bedroom around this piece.

I put a buffalo plaid duvet on the bed and combined a couple of my favorite motifs (with my collections – old books and bird nests) to style this vintage dresser.  The crowning jewel was to add a mirror.  I thought the mirror that originally went with the piece was too ‘matchy matchy’ for my taste.  I originally thought I would just go without a mirror, but I soon found out I really liked having a mirror in the bedroom, so I set out to find a vintage looking piece.

I didn’t really expect to find anything I liked to fit my budget until Ballard Designs had a 40% off sale with free shipping and I was able to purchase the perfect piece!

My biggest bargain in the room was the bedside wall lamp.  Every one I liked had a price tag over $100.  And I had all but given up on the idea of including a lamp in my room until I came across the perfect one for $19.99 at IKEA!  Score!

The dresser ends up being my favorite piece of furniture!  I hope you enjoyed seeing how I transformed this old dresser!  Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. Click here to see how I refinished the mahogany side table that matched this dresser.