Antique Painted Dresser with Fusion’s Divine Lavender

I have a fantastic antique painted dresser makeover to share with you today!

It’s bold, but elegant, with a little bit of whimsy thrown in too.  And perfect for the coming spring season.

I bought this dresser from a lady on Facebook Marketplace, and was pleasantly surprised with its condition.  It’s nice and sturdy, with deep drawers and some really unique details.

 

It’s been a while since I’ve tried a new color, so I decided for this piece to go a bit out of my comfort zone and try Fusion’s Divine Lavender.

 

 

Have you tried this color yet? I’m not a huge purple gal, but sometimes you need to try something new, right? 

I also wanted to try one of the new Redesign with Prima transfers just released back in February, and I think I found the perfect one to pair with this soft lavender color! 

 

Prep Work & Materials

I did my usual prep on this piece by wiping it down with Fusion’s TSP Alternative, to help get off any built-up grease and grime. This really is the most important step in the prep process, and I use this same cleaner for every single piece I paint (no matter what paint I am working with).

Wondering about how and why you should clean your furniture? You can read more about that here. 

Then I scuff-sanded the entire body, except for the two front legs and top side drawers (more on that later). In total, it took me maybe 10 minutes to get it ready to paint–not too bad!

Here are all the materials I used:

• Fusion’s TSP Alternative
• 180 grit sandpaper
• 1 pint Divine Lavender
• Hemp Oil
• Ultimate ONE Round Brush Large #16
• Microfiber roller (for the top)
• Redesign with Prima Watercolor Bloom Transfer
• Fusion’s Clear Wax

 

Painting Process

Once I was done with the prep work, I got to work painting (which I think we can all agree is the fun part!). 

Lately I have been painting almost exclusively with the Staalmeester Ultimate ONE Round brush, and y’all . . .  I LOVE that brush!

At $59 it is a bit of an investment, but if you’re painting a lot it’s totally worth it! It’s pretty much the only brush I use now, anytime I’m working with Fusion.

I painted on two coats of the Divine Lavender, leaving the front legs and top left and right drawer unpainted.  The drawers had some gorgeous patterned veneer on them that I wanted to keep and I like the look of the natural front legs–it just adds something a little unexpected. 

A day after the last coat was dry, I went back and wet-sanded all the painted areas to lightly distress and have a buttery-smooth finish on the paint.

Want to learn how to wet-sand? Check out this post here!

After the sanding and distressing, that’s when I applied the Watercolor Bloom transfer to the bottom drawer fronts.  It took me a little bit of time to decide on the arrangement of the flowers, and I ended up going for a cascading effect. I think it turned out awesome though!

I buffed on a light coat of Fusion’s Clear Wax to seal the transfer, and applied a light coat to the dresser top too, just for a bit of added protection.

When all of that was finished, I wiped a bit of Hemp Oil onto the front legs and drawer fronts that I kept stained, just to revive and refresh that wood.

 

Ready to see the After?

 

Here it is all finished!

Isn’t she classy?!

I love how the transfer really does look like watercolor–just like its name! People keep asking me if I painted the flowers on, that’s how realistic it looks.

Couldn’t resist throwing in some pretty purple flowers from the Studio 🙂 

So, I think my little color experiment worked out ok! I know purple may not be the color for everyone, but I think this dresser still is elegant and classy enough that it will have a wide appeal.

If you would like to get this look yourself, you can find all of the products I used in my online store as well as at my local Northwest Arkansas Studio. I would love to see how you would use Divine Lavender, or what you would create with the Watercolor Bloom transfer!

Thanks for joining me today, and Happy Painting!