Project 2: Chalk-Painted High-Boy Dresser

I'm now obsessed with chalk paint!   I want to paint nearly every piece of furniture in the house!  

I also have some remorse about spending DAYS sanding, priming, and painting Ramsey's two bedroom dressers with gloss paint.  It took one coat of primer and FOUR COATS of red!   I was hugely pregnant at the time and it was COLD out in the garage when I was painting (with no-VOC paint of course to be safe for baby-in-the-oven).   One coat, perhaps a sand to distress, and one coat of wax would have been all I needed if I had known about chalk paint.  It would have saved me a boatload of hours too.  *Sigh*  Well, better late than never, right?!

So, back on topic....  Vicki and Bernie had given us an old high-boy dresser a few years ago.  I'd often thought of painting it black to coordinate with the furniture in our bedroom, but, remembering the story above, I decided it was just fine the way it was and I had better things to do with my days.  :-)   After I finished the bench project for the entry way, I decided it was "time".

Last night at 5:00, I removed the drawer handles from the high boy, removed the drawers (leaving the clothes intact), and started throwing on the chalk paint (literally throwing it on... you don't have to be pristine with chalk paint!).  I let that dry for a few minutes and made supper for everyone.  I then took the handles and rubbed on some antique gold tube paint with a rag and then went back to sand/distress the dresser.  Note: This dresser didn't even need a touch-up coat since none of the wood was unfinished!  I wiped on a coat of wax and put the handles back on.  VOILA!  Before it was even Ramsey's bed time, I had that whole darn thing DONE!

Here are the before and afters (the pics aren't great... the lighting in that room isn't super bright):

For an $8.99 eight ounce jar of chalk paint (that I actually only used half of), plus the soft wax and gold rub that I already had, and a total of maybe 2 hours of actual work time, this is the outcome:

I am all about quick results and immediate satisfaction, so this project exceeded my expectations.

I have two side tables in the living room that I am dying to paint now.  But first, the fainting bench that we had in the entry way originally is going to get a makeover.  I had moved it into our bedroom, at the foot of our bed.  Its red velvet fabric is going to be chalk-painted with a light blue-gray and the wood will be black (and a wee bit distressed.... maybe) to coordinate.

Thereafter... well, my Mom has a TON of stuff that I would love to get my hands on!!!   I'm dying to paint something of hers with Peacock Blue, French Blue, or Lemon Yellow.  This obsession may become a serious illness!  ha