I completed a project today that I have been putting off for years! I have a tendancy to only tackle projects I know I can finish in a day. There is nothing that gets me riled up more then an unfinished project and/or mess from a project that sits around for awhile. (My poor husband can vouch for this bad trait!) Hence the reason this project has taken me so long to start. I was sure it would be a bear to complete.
We bought our daughter this antique dresser off Craigslist for $80, about 3 years ago. She used it for awhile but I quickly noticed the paint job the lady did when refinishing it wasn’t too great. The top began to peel as well as the drawers. Also, my daughter was 7/8 at the time. She spilled quite a few art projects on the top that left stains and piles of who knows what? …Some type of rock hard goo!
This old dresser was moved to the basement with plans on refinishing it one day. I went online and bought paintable wall paper. I figured I would paper the drawer fronts, and possibly the top. Then I would chalk paint the whole thing! Well two years and one move later, I tackled the ugly dresser and guess what? The project took less than a day!
Here is a before of the dresser in all its glory. Ain’t she a beaut? She’s been well loved, that’s for sure!
It was so long ago when I bought the wallpaper, I can’t remember what possessed me to think this would work. After a little trial and error I got the paper to stick. I had to make an 8am Home Depot run for wall paper paste (I’m fairly certain pre pasted wall paper is a lie, no matter what the label says!)
Once I got the darn stuff to stick, it was easy! I spread wall paper paste on the drawer front, then I would lay the paper down. I had to work it a bit to try and remove all the air bubbles. I knew the top would have some bubbles, considering the rock hard goo that was present. But I’m okay with imperfect! I actually prefer it…perfection generally takes a lot of time!
And here she is now! All papered and chalk painted up. The paper/knobs/paint combo turned out a bit fancier than I was envisioning but I still love her! I also love that this project was essentially free! I had the dresser. The chalk paint I bought weeks ago to paint some tables. I tried a new brand from Lowes (https://m.lowes.com/pd/Valspar-Tintable-Chalky-Paint-Actual-Net-Contents-29-oz/50372914) and after thinning it with water, it works great! Of course, I’ve had the wallpaper for years.
I love this church picture I found at Kirklands. It reminds me so much of the church I was raised in. I knew I had to buy it the second I saw it!
The embroidery hoops were a fun DIY I just completed after seeing the ones on Erin from Cottonstem’s Instagram (https://www.instagramv.com/p/BZd0vGQF52i/). They are so cheap to make and add a pretty, natural element.
I hope you all enjoy the post and get inspired to finish those pesky projects around your house!
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