I saw that a neighbour had put two pieces of furniture curbside, so I described which one I wanted to my 20 year old son…who of course came back with the one I DIDN’T want. But when he said, “This is cool!” I took another look and he was right! (To be fair, he went back to get me the other piece which I’ll share more about later.)
I wanted a look that wasn’t too matchy to this dresser that was already in his room. Using Silk Paint I chose the colour Nautical which goes on bright, but dries to a deep, royal blue. It had gotten a bit thick, so I added a teaspoon of water, mixed it well and painted using the Dixie Belle Synthetic Mini brush.
While the first coat was drying I worked on the drawer fronts using Voodoo Gel Stain in the grey colour Up in Smoke with a touch of White Magic mixed in to lighten the grey. When using stains on a varnished surface, they won’t highlight the grain like they do on raw timber, but it’s a quick and easy way to get a stained look on a surface that’s varnished.
Voodoo Gel Stain is water based and can be a bit sticky so I misted it to keep it moving. Because of its gel base it will adhere to factory finishes like the varnish on this piece. I put the stain on then wiped it away like I normally would when staining, but it wiped completely off! It can happen…So I pulled out my wood graining tool to fake the texture.
Using the wood-graining tool takes practice, applying the right pressure and rocking it back in forth did the trick and added the right amount of detail. Afterward I used a natural bristle brush to even up the coverage and add drag marks for texture.
Even though one coat of Silk paint has great coverage, two coats is always better for dimension and depth of colour.
Once the stain was dry I taped off the stripes and applied No Pain Gel Stain in Walnut, a warm brown, straight over the grey. That’s right, I stained the stain! No Pain Gel Stain is an oil based stain with a built in topcoat, so it both stains and seals.
Voodoo Gel Stain stained with No Pain Gel Stain in Walnut
After removing the tape, I taped off the red stripe and used No Pain Gel Stain in Georgian Cherry. But guess what happens when you put a reddish stain over a whitish stain? Pink. Ya, nope!
Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint in a Rustic Red wash to the rescue. A touch of the Walnut stain over it deepened the colour perfectly.
Better! Pink stripe is now red.
I did some distressing on the edges but there was already a lot happening so I changed my mind and painted them out. Fortunately, Silk paint is self levelling, so the touch-ups blended with the base coats seamlessly.
After putting the ring pulls back on I gave the drawer slides a quick sanding with 150-grit sandpaper then waxed the drawer slides for easy opening and closing.
And here he is!
Katie ❤️
More about Dixie Belle Paint and products here: https://dixiebellepaint.com/
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