Distressed Blue Dresser

Photographs by my friend, Jennie Murphy

Painted the top a contrasting gray.

This is what I have been working on this week.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.  I learned a lot during the process! This dresser is older than I am!  It was my granddad's and was built in the 50's.  When I brought it home a couple of years ago I painted it this blue color. The entire thing!  Too bad I don't have a before picture.  All i have is some during the process of transforming it from a "blah" blue dresser to something with character!

After the first application of stripper.

Lots more sanding to do!

After the stain/before the black glaze

First I thought it would look good to paint the top a contrasting color with the blue, and tried that.  It was ok, but not great.  And when I distressed the edges, I had lots of different colors shining through. Not pretty.  So what to do?  Strip the top!  So I used a paint stripper and then a palm sander and 3 days later.. we have bare wood!  I stained the top. Then I added a black glaze to increase the aged look. And now have a coat of poly on the whole thing. And it is WOW!

Family Heirloom - Brought back to life