August Aqua Dresser

Last month I did a pretty dresser with a mirror in ASCP Duck Egg blue and absolutely loved how it turned out. Something about aqua over dark wood is just gorgeous when the wood peaks through a little bit, and I'm noticing that Duck Egg has a really nice depth to it.

Given that one of my favorite colors is aqua and my space at Sweet Clover is full of bright colors, I couldn't help but do another one this month. Aqua in a room is kind of like a great pair of blue jeans -- it looks good with just about any other color and works with many different styles and ages.

To paint this piece, I removed the hardware and drawers and gave the entire piece two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg blue. I tried to go light on the areas on the side of the piece with the carved detail because those are especially nice when the wood shows through. Once the paint dried, I went over it with a high grit Ultraflex softback sanding sponge to a smooth finish all over the piece. I am in love with these sanding sponges because they seem to be finer than any of the 3M superfine sanding sponges at Home Depot, and they prepare your piece so that it takes wax or poly much better. I also use the sanding sponge to pull off some of the paint over the edges and the carved areas. The sanding sponges are great for that because they pull off paint but they generally don't remove the finish on the wood, which means you still get that beautiful dark color peeking through instead of the natural wood. The Ultraflex sanding sponges are available at Stylish Patina if you're interested in picking a few up!

After sanding, I gave the entire piece a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax and buffed it out. Then I reattached the hardware.

This dresser is REALLY solid. The frame and drawers are solid wood, and there are drawer guards in between each drawer. It was made by Kindel Furniture Company, which still produces high end historic replicas of furniture today. According to the information I could find about the style of the stamp on the inside of a drawer, it was made somewhere between 1930 and 1950.

I wish I had taken a better picture of the original hardware because it's seriously cool. The large metal knobs have a flower motif on them. Even though the detail of the hardware probably would've looked cool painted, I couldn't bare to paint it.

This piece will be available during the August Sweet Clover Barn Sale, Friday - Sunday, August 16-18, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. Hope to see you there!

Sharing at: Miss Mustard Seed, Elizabeth & Co.,