DIY

 

A Paris dresser for Hailey 

This is one of my biggest DIY projects to date. Each child has a theme for their room, Hailey’s is Paris. We were looking at furniture for her and she asked if I could paint a dresser for her.  We went to Michaels to take a look at what they had. We ended up finding a large Paris stencil kit. It included the Eiffel tower, French script and little emblems.

Then I ran around getting everything I needed. I ended up grabbing an electric hand sander (Black and Decker) which made this job a whole lot easier. I got the paint from Benjamin Moore, I just got classic latex white for furniture. I told the guy what I was doing and he told me what I needed.  I also got a package of painters gloves and a sheet of plastic to protect my floor!!

The dresser I ended up getting off of craigslist for $30.  I started out by washing the entire dresser with TSP and removing all of the knobs. It is important to wash with TSP as this will remove any oils or dirt on the surface. Once this was finished I began filling all the holes from the knobs with a good wood filler. After this I began sanding the dresser, I used a 100 grit and then finished with 240 grit. You also want to make sure that you sand in the same direction as the grain in the wood.  The clear coat that was on top, did not want to come off. I spent a couple days, just doing all the sanding for the dresser and drawers. The hand sander worked well, however I did have little sheets to use for the corners of the dressers and hard to reach places.

When you finish sanding you want to make sure that you wipe the dresser down with a tack cloth.  You then want to use an oil primer to prime all of the wood. I used a paintbrush for this as I found that it gave a nicer finish.  I left the dresser to sit overnight and dry, then it was back to sanding again, yup again! This step just helps you get rid of all the brush strokes that are left behind.

Then time to apply the paint, I used a roller for this, for as much as I could. I went back to the paintbrush for those hard to reach spots and corners.  I then left the dresser for the recommended period of drying time, before applying the second coat.  Once the second coat was applied, I let the dresser sit overnight to dry.

In the morning I took a purple furniture paint from Michaels, got my stencils ready and applied the paint over the stencils onto to the dresser.  This was a little tricky and I had to tape it down to stop it from moving while I was painting.  Once I got all the stencils on, I let it dry for a few hours. Then I put all the new hardware on the drawers, I looked for something that was antique and French looking. I found them at Home Hardware, they had a huge selection.  The mirror was also done using all the same steps as the dresser, I then screwed it back onto the dresser. Voila!! A project like this definitely takes patience. However, once you finish, you are left with something truly amazing. Your child gets to look at it everyday knowing how much love went into it.