Vintage Dresser gets a Shabby Chalk Paint Makeover

Last Saturday, while I was running errands, I stopped into a Goodwill  and purchased this vintage dresser. It was in decent enough shape, but it is not the best quality dresser.  The top and the sides are laminate over compressed board. The curvy accents on the top three drawers and the front legs are made from composite plastic. The drawers are wood, except for the bottoms and they have plastic drawer guides. The dresser was inexpensive and because it is constructed from so many different types  of building materials I decided that it would make a good chalk paint practice candidate.  I haven't used chalk paint a lot on larger projects and wanted to try a "new to me" brand of chalk paint. It is made by Valspar and you can purchase it at Lowes. It can be tinted to just about any color that Valspar offers.

I decided on Ultra White because I thought the curves on this dresser 

would be pretty with a shabby chic look.

To prep this dresser for paint, 

I removed the hardware, reattached some of the loose drawer guides 

and filled in a little chipped area on a back leg with wood filler.

I decided to sand the top and sides because they had a little sheen.

Then I wiped the entire piece down with glass cleaner, because it has ammonia in it.

Then I started painting. I painted one coat a day, allowing it to dry overnight between coats.

This piece has 3 coats of chalk paint. 

 I have found that painting white over a darker piece requires more coats than normal.

After the third coat dried overnight, I used 220 sandpaper to hand distress the dresser.

Then I hand rubbed clear wax over the entire piece.

This gives the paint some sheen and a nice smooth finish.

I also painted the original hardware with Krylon satin white spray paint with primer. 

I sprayed numerous very light coats over each drawer pull until they were solid white.

Then I distressed the pulls with the sandpaper too.

After reattaching the drawer pulls my practice candidate was finished!

Now this piece can live on as a flat screen TV stand, buffet in a dining room or as a dresser.

I'm super pleased with how it turned out.

So tell me, have you used chalk paint before and if so,

what have you found to be the pros and cons?

'til next time,

Linking to: Lets Talk Vintage Vintage Inspiration Party