Basil Belle
This project was a labor of love that ended up taking much less time and effort than expected! My quest: find a dresser that was solid, had potential, and was under $60. After searching for days on Craigslist, I struck a deal with my in-laws to purchase one of their guest room dressers. Eeek!
Next step: Home Depot.
I don’t know about you, but I could lose hours perusing paint colors: eggshell vs. satin, blue egg vs. blue opal… I chose to do a combo of basic white with Behr’s Blue Opal for the front of the drawers.
To begin this project, my hubby and I brought the dresser outside for sanding. I used an orbital sander with 150 grit sandpaper and sanded the dresser down just enough to scuff up the surface. I used a sticky cloth (it got all over my hands, so I’d recommend gloves!) and a clean, damp rag to get rid of any dust residue, repositioned the dresser on top of a tarp, and began painting.
The second I saw the Blue Opal color spread across the dresser drawers, I knew I’d picked the right one.
I did two-three coats of white and two coats of the blue opal, plus touch ups. I’ll admit I was a little impatient and didn’t let the paint dry in between coats. It turned out okay, just a teensy-teensy bit tacky on the top. To avoid this, let your paint dry in between coats. I know it’s hard, but it’s worth it.
For the drawer pulls: while Hobby Lobby has tons of cool options, I thought the existing pulls had some charm but needed a facelift. Spray paint was perfect for this and only required one coat.
Lastly, for an extra special touch, I used Mod Podge and cute wrapping paper to line the dresser drawers. While they’re rarely empty, I smile every time I get a quick peek at the fun pattern.
Total cost:
Dresser $55
*Behr paint $4 – I got a sample which did the trick.
Brushes $10
Plastic paint tray $2
_____ $71 not bad!
I did have the white paint and spray paint on hand, so that saved me a little bit of money.
All in all, this project took roughly 4 hours and looks way better than it did before. What projects are you working on?
