Painted Dresser + Hutch

Hello there! Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. I am on vacation out here in California for the next couple weeks and managed to get this (monstrous) dresser painted during my first week here. I love that I tackle big things that I've never done before while I'm on vacation. What's wrong with me? I guess I got the DIY bug!

After:

The patient before: an old faux wood dresser and hutch.

Basically what I did was remove all the hardware, cover the mirror, give both pieces a even light sand so the paint can stick nicely too it. I wiped all the dust from sanding very will with an old cloth, or you can use tack cloth. I sprayed primer first and then hand-painted two coats of paint.  

I like to tape off the edges of the mirror and then cover the rest with newspaper. 

It's easier and more precise for me that way. 

Light sanding gave a perfectly scuffed surface. 

Make sure you smooth out all the edges.

I covered the tops of the drawers as I didn't want to ruin the inside of them. 

Also, for ease, I stuck the knobs on a cardboard box to make for easy spraying.

Cool trick I learned from blog land: cover your paint tray so you can use it later.

 Paint can suffered a small accident on its way home ;o)

I used Zinsser primer and Dove White by Glidden.

I've been dying to use Zinsser brand primer from hearing such awesome reviews about it. It's not sold in Dubai, so I never had the chance. Luckily the Kryon H20 has been great for me, but now I can say I've used Zinsser.

I noticed right away that the inside top of the hutch can be seen in the mirror, so I had to prime the inside otherwise the brown of the old wood would always reflect in the mirror.

I realized what worked best for me was actually painting the crevices, and hard to reach places with the brush and then going back with the roller to cover the wide surfaces. 

After 3 days of painting (and dry time in between) 

plus changing the pulls I ended up with this new bright beauty! 

I sprayed the knobs and faux key holes, but replaced the pulls as one was missing. 

up close! 

There you have it! My first ever hand painted dresser and hutch! This was a lot of fun and the time went by relatively quickly. I learned a few things from this experience I wanted to share with you:

• If you've never painted before, I recommend using water based paint which is much more forgiving than oil based and a little bit of soap and water will clean up your brush and roller nicely.  
• It's easier to paint the small and hard to reach corners and creases with the brush first and then go back to the large spaces with the roller. 
• Glopping on the paint will cause drips in your paint job.  
• Double check your paint job within in a few minutes of finishing, because sometimes drips creep-up on you. 

Hope this was helpful! Thanks for stopping by!!

-Debora