Dresser Up-cycle

I've had this dresser since 2007.

I found it at this second hand place in my hometown in their back room covered in a sheet of dust.

The place is called Templemen's and it's full of treasures. You just have to be willing to dig for said treasures, because the place is FULL from floor to ceiling.

The dresser was $60 and it was the perfect size. It was a solid piece and it would hold a majority of my wardrobe in my tiny 9x9 room in my first apartment in college.

Boy how things have changed...

I think back on that tiny room now and wonder how the heck I even breathed let alone moved around in there! I mean now I own an 1800 square foot house that sits on about a quarter of an acre. I have it all to myself and still feel like I don't have enough space between me and the neighbors! Not to mention all 1800 square feet of my house are full of stuff.

Must be the farm girl in me...

When I bring up the idea of me moving again, my Dad gets really excited and looks at me like this.

Especially now that I have three closets {which are all three times the size of the closet I had in that tiny first apartment} plus this dresser full of clothes.

It makes him SUPER happy, guys.

Seriously. He's really quite proud.

I know what you're thinking...my future husband is going to be the luckiest man in the world, right?!

Let's just marinate on that thought for a hot minute.

Not only am I fabulous, I have a house full of stuff and clothes, AND I have been compared to THE Pioneer Woman as far as my culinary skills.

What more could a man want?!

Ahem.

Getting back to this dresser...

It was this disgusting navy color {see below} and I wanted it brown.

So I painted it.

And this is where life lesson #759 came into play: Always ask your Mother before embarking on a painting party. And if your Mom isn't there, ask Google.

I did neither.

#fail.

Speaking of hashtags, have you seen this? HILARIOUS.

I didn't sand or prime before I painted, so, you guessed it. The paint has been peeling off ever since.

And let me tell you friends, this dresser has been moved in and out of 4 apartments and into my house since this painting fiasco, with more and more paint chipping off every time. It's REAL ugly, folks.

It's a miracle that the majority of the dresser was still brown!

So, I finally got around to painting it.

This time, because I'm older, wiser and more experienced, obviously, I did it the right way.

And it took forever!

And made a HUGE mess!

After a few hours I was left with the dresser looking like this. There was that beautiful navy color I loved so much!

I used Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint this time, so no priming was required. Score!

I decided to do the dresser part in Old White and the drawers in Coco.

I then used Annie Sloan's Dark Wax to go for the antique look to match the look of my new commode I scored this summer and am using as a nightstand by my bed.

If you've never used this paint I would strongly urge you to consider doing so on your next painting endeavor. It's the bees knees folks. And no, Annie is not paying me to say that. :)

And here is the final result.

I finally love this dresser after six years and five moves.

Ahh...

My window tutorial can be found here and that sweet owl lamp can be found here.  However it should be noted I paid about half that when I bought it at the store, so use some coupons or something if you're going to buy it. ;)