Sometimes the outcome of a transformation is as much a surprise to me as it is to those seeing it for the first time! This painted bohemian dresser makeover will go down as one of my favorites for sure.
I’m not sure what possessed me to blend purple and blue together, but I’m so happy I didn’t second guess it and just went with it!
The creative process is a weird thing. People often ask me when I start on a new piece if I have a plan going into it. Sometimes I have an idea of what color I think I want to use. But beyond that, the plan just develops as I start to paint and the creative wheels start turning.
This dresser started out in Black Cherry from Wise Owl and my plan was to blend it with Petal, a lovely blush color from Wise Owl. I had polled my followers on Facebook for what colors they thought I should use. The combination of Black Cherry and Petal was the suggestion from one of them I just thought it sounded so fun and it was something I’d never tried before.
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I actually started painting this piece on a Facebook Live with my friend Tess of A Southern Story here in Nashville. The Black Cherry was immediately loved by our viewers. But as I began to blend the Petal with the Black Cherry, it just looked like a pale white and was creating a lighter version of the Black Cherry. It was ok, just not interesting enough to me.
So after the Facebook live video, I continued to work on it. I literally do not remember where the idea came from to blend Prussian Blue into the piece. But the beauty of paint is if you try something and don’t like it, you can just paint over it (as I did when I realized I didn’t love the Petal with this color)! The combination was a lovely surprise and I fell in love with what was happening!
The top of the piece wasn’t in great shape when I found it, but the wood grain looked very pretty. So I decided to sand off the existing finish knowing I wanted to somehow keep the wood grain, but not having an exact plan.
Dresser_PurpleBlue_Before
Dresser_PurpleBlue_Before2
As the Black Cherry and Prussian Blue blending began to steal my heart, I couldn’t imagine any stain color that wouldn’t be too much of a contrast or that would take away from the interest happening on the bottom of the piece. So I decided to try giving the top a paint wash in Black Cherry.
A paint wash is simply applying watered down paint and then wiping it back as you desire. First I applied this Seal Coat product so that the paint would not soak into the wood since I had sanded down to bare wood. (Note: sanding to bare wood is not necessary when painting furniture. See my blog on sanding HERE.) As the paint wash went on and began to dry I was literally gushing. Have you ever heard of or seen purple heart wood? It is a wood that is naturally purple in color. This paint wash turned the wood top into something that resembled purple heart wood and I couldn’t have imagined a better fit for this unique piece of furniture!
The top drawer is lined with paper from my favorite paper source, Spoonflower, and it is a lively fun pattern for a little wowza surprise when you open the drawer. I sealed the entire piece with Wise Owl Matte Varnish for a flat sheen finish.
It would look so perfect in a bohemian decor setting. Or as a pop of color in your traditional or farmhouse style decor. Pair it with bold colors for an eclectic look or tone it down with neutrals and let it be the only statement in the room.
I believe our homes should be a collection of things that show our personality. I can’t wait to see who takes this one home and makes it their own! It’s available HERE.
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Another beauty 💖
Thank you Candis! 🙂
Can you repaint over chalk cabinets ?
I had dark pine knots in my cabinets.
person who did my cabinets said she covered
the pine knots saw would not show. now they
bleeding thru. can not stand.
any you can give I would appreciate.
Thank You
Hi Prue, yes you can repaint over the bleed through. This blog might be helpful to you: https://rawhydefurnishings.com/simple-fix-bleed/. Good luck! April
Thank You so much for your help.
going to try this