HERE’S HOW I TURNED THIS TRASH-BOUND DRESSER INTO A FRENCH COUNTRY BEAUTY WITH AN ALL-IN-ONE BEGINNER-FRIENDLY FURNITURE PAINT | YOUTUBE VIDEO
Hi beautiful, and thanks for joining me on another Furniture Fixer Uppers Thursday! I can’t wait to hear what you think of this beginner-friendly furniture makeover! Wait until you see what I found on bulk garbage day this past weekend – a 6-drawer French Provincial dresser! Lucky for me, there was a neighbour in his driveway working away on his car and he helped me load this dresser into my FUV.
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Bonus, it’s Furniture Fixer Upper Day! If you’re new here, on the fourth Thursday of every month, I join four super-talented friends, and we share our before-and-after furniture restyles. The link to their makeovers is included at the end of this post. I hope you join me in visiting them to see what they’ve created!
Here’s the French Provincial dresser I found curbside. You can tell just by the way it was put out to the curb that this was a well-looked-after piece of furniture. I left the mirror and a neighbour helped me load it into my FUV.
I thought this was going to be a perfect piece for FFU day, but it really didn’t need any fixing. This dresser was in awesome condition!
CURBSIDE FP DRESSER MAKEOVER
Here’s how it all came together. This is a beginner-friendly step-by-step tutorial. Whether you’re brand new to furniture painting or a seasoned pro, this tutorial shares how the basics can yield gorgeous results if you follow these steps.
- Remove any hardware
- Clean and degrease your furniture
- Scuff sand OR use a Bonding Primer
- Paint 2 to 3 coats of your chosen furniture paint (I’ve included a beginner-friendly paint that saves time and money)
- Topcoat (if needed) and reinstall hardware
THIS POST IS SPONSORED/CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS TO PRODUCTS I USE. YOU CAN SEE MY FULL DISCLOSURE HERE.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
French Provincial Dresser – SALVAGED
White Lightning Cleaner
Auto Sponge
Shop Towels
Sanding Sponge
Paint Brush
Titebond Wood Glue
Bonding BOSS Primer
Woodubend Design
Bronze Gilding Wax
NEW Wicklow Glen SILK All-In-One Mineral Paint
PREP & CLEAN & REPAIR
I removed the original hardware from these drawers and then thoroughly cleaned the entire piece with a heavy-duty furniture cleaner. The only repair that was needed was a broken plastic drawer guide. I always keep a stash of these on hand. They are super inexpensive and come in handy.
ADDING WOODUBEND (OPTIONAL)
To add some gorgeous detailing to this dresser, I used Woodubend. These wood appliques are super easy to apply. Once I pick my design, I heat it with my heat gun. This makes the wood applique warm and bendable and ready for a glue-up. I add wood glue to the back, position the design exactly where I want it and press down and/or clamp. I blast it with a little extra heat, let it dry and it is ahdered.
For the bottom of the legs, I used one Woodubend applique and cut the design into the parts. This is easy to do once they are heated and you can create original designs my cutting and assembling them to custom fit your furniture as I did on the front legs of this dresser.
SCUFF SAND OR *NO SAND* BONDING PRIMER
Sanding is a pain point for many beginner furniture painters. I get it. When I first started painting furniture, sanding always felt like a messy, big job. I did NOT enjoy it. I have learned scuff sanding takes a lot less time and effort than I originally thought. I like comparing it to wiping down my kitchen counter… but using sandpaper rather than a cloth. Here’s a super short Youtube video on the basics of scuff sanding furniture.
However, if you’re NOT into sanding, I suggest investing in a good Bonding Primer like this one here. This primer will stick to everything – glass, plastic, metal, and wood furniture! It blocks stains and odours and gives your paint a great surface to adhere to. I like applying it with a 4″ foam roller but an inexpensive paint brush works just as well!
The paint brand you choose to paint your furniture in can be confusing as well – there are sooooo many fabulous brands to pick from. If you’re just starting out, you can ‘cheat’ a few steps by buying an all-in-one paint and primer. I use Dixie Belle’s SILK All-In-One Mineral Paint. It comes in gorgeous colors and they have just released their NEW Contryside Collectionction as well!
NEW COUNTRYSIDE COLLECTION PAINT!
PAINTING IN WICKLOW GLEN
The next morning was painting day. I picked this beautiful NEW Wicklow Glen paint to create a French country dresser vibe.
This paint is perfect for beginners because it self-levels. You brush it on in even strokes — then leave it do its thing. I don’t have to go over it numerous times to get a smooth finish. I’ll share the painting process on this Saturday’s upcoming YouTube video so you can see how lovely this paint is. I painted two coats to get full coverage on this dresser. And NO topcoat is required because it’s included in the formula!
ADDING GILDING WAX (OPTIONAL)
To highlight the wood trim, I used this Bronze Gilding Wax. I used a small round brush and lightly glided over the details with a small amount of wax on the bristles.
ADDING HARDWARE
When I started this piece, I thought I was going to use the original hardware. They are classic French Provincial hardware. But looking at the new color and design, I decided to go with the hardware I repurposed from another old piece of furniture. All they needed was a light brushing of Bronze Gilding Wax to give them a vintage French Country vibe.
THE BIG REVEAL…
Here’s the finished look! What do you think of this dresser that was trash-bound now?!
I have a soft spot for French Provincial furniture. When my Mum bought me my first ‘grown-up’ bedroom set it was the classic white FP set – just as this one was. I felt like a princess! I think the change of hardware, added Woodubend and Wicklow Glen has matured this piece.
Here’s a top view of the paint finish. It self-levels beautifully!
I’m loving the added detail!
Another furniture road rescue saved! I feel lucky enough to have found it and grateful to have salvaged this beautiful piece of furniture.
And just for fun, I asked AI to generate a french country styling using my dresser as the focal point here’s what it generated. Jeez, this is pretty fancy. This dresser would look awesome in an upscale French Country room, don’t you think!?
YOUTUBE TUTORIAL
Here’s the full step-by-step YouTube tutorial below. Our #siyoutubefamily is already a community of 54.3K, so don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t done so already. You’re the BEST, and I appreciate your support! 🙂
And now for some FURNITURE FIXER UPPER FUN!
You’re going to LOVE what these creative FFU ladies do! Below are the BEFORE photos. Visit the links to see the amazing AFTERS and learn how they did it! I’m heading over to take a peek as well!
1. CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL DIYER
2. MY REPURPOSED LIFE
3. A RAY OF SUNLIGHT
4. PETTICOAT JUNKTION
5. SALVAGED INSPIRATIONS (HAPPY YOU’RE HERE!)
Here’s another look at this curbshopped dresser before and after. I hope it’s inspired you and gave you some ideas for your upcoming furniture painting projects… especially if you’re a beginner and on the fence to give this a go!
Thanks so much for joining me for today’s makeover—I’m always excited to get trash-bound furniture a second chance! Would you have put the brakes on for this one?
I’ve included some Related Posts below. Let me know what you think of this NEW Countryside Collection color, or feel free to ask any questions you may have. I always love hearing from you. It makes my day!!
Happy painting, my friends!
Denise x
RELATED POSTS:
SILK ALL-IN-ONE MINERAL PAINT 101
TRASH TO TREASURE LIBRARY TABLE
HOW TO HIGHLIGHT DETAIL WITH SILK PAINT
DIY FRENCH COUNTRY WRITING DESK
PAINTED FRENCH COUNTRY ARMOIRE
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I had that furniture set as a young teen. A canopy bed, 2-3 drawer dressers & a desk. I loved it so much. Bought in Memphis, TN but cannot remember the store.
You did a great job.
So good, right?! I loved my FP set as well! Thanks so much Susan! xo
Definitely worth the repost. Love your color choice.
You did a fabulas job with all the details. And a great tutorial for us occasional refinishers.
Have a wonderful Holiday season !!
I hope it’s fun – and restful – and you recoup your design energy for the New Year !!
I appreciate you P, thanks! Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and fabulous New Year as well my friend. Hugs
Beautiful! I too had this set when i was growing up.
They were soooo popular… and beautiful! Thanks Cheryl and wishing you a great weekend my friend! XOXO
Oh my! Such a lovely color. It’s so pretty!!
Thanks my friend! XOXO
Denise,
The color is scrumptious! I love the new hardware and the wooden detail pieces. Good tip about the drawer guides. It’s not something I usually salvage from old furniture. I will in the future.
Pinned!
gail
This color is scrumptious!😃 And ya, i can’t tell you how many times salvaged drawer guides have come in handy. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for the PIN Gail! XOXO
I love the color and embellishments on the dresser. It is simply beautiful and would fit in with any color you would have in the bedroom. Love It!!
Thanks Barbara and I agree, this countryside color could be used as a neutral for sure! Have a great week!
Beautiful, Denise. Before and especially after! It’s hard to believe that this was curbside. You SCORED big! The paint color and addition of woodubend made this dresser unique and one of a kind. I love it. By the way, what’s a FUV? I’m imagining a fun utility vehicle that you tootle around town in with once loved furniture in the back. 😂 Please tell me this is true! 😍 Pinned!
haha you are soooo close – instead of an SUV I’ve dubbed it my FUV aka Furniture Utility Vehicle… but I kinda like your FUN Utility Vehicle just as much!😆 And yes, I scored with this piece. You can tell it was loved even by the way the taped it up and put it to the curb.💙
Absolutely stunning, Denise! I wish we had a bulk trash day…we can call for a bulk pick up whenever, and they just pick up on the next trash day, so it’s harder to find the good freebies. The wood u bend on the bottom really takes it up a notch, and the color is perfect! XOXO
Thanks my friend! And ya, having a bulk day scheduled every 2 weeks is awesome. Andrea and I call it ‘magic garbage day’🤣 Isn’t this color beautiful?! I’m in love with the colors they came out with for the Countryside Collection. I can’t wait to try a few of the others as well.Have a great week! Hugs
Very nice save and very lucky to have found it! Keep up the great work, I totally enjoy your projects
I appreciate you Mary, thank you! And I agree, what a lucky find. It was in such great condition and so well loved!
Wow! What a difference! I love the wood-u-bend add-ons and color. Great work!
Thanks Lizzy! That Woodubend is awesome!
This transformation is absolutely stunning. My daughter’s first furniture was the white FP also.
I may have to sneak over to her basement and grab a piece to freshen up.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful work with us.
Aw, thanks so much!😊 French Provincial was sooooo popular and they were built to last, right?! I bet your daughter LOVED her set and would be tinkled pink to see it get a freshen up!
This is so gorgeous! I love every single thing about it. Well done.
Thank you so much Cyndel!🤗 Enjoy the rest of your week! XOXO
This French Provincial makeover is beautiful and the paint color you chose looks very French Country imo. Thank you for sharing. I appreciate the easy to follow guide and you make it look effortless!
Thanks so much Nicki! And I agree, this Wicklow Glen is a gorgeous color! XOXO
Hi Denise. I love the color, hardware, and embellishments you chose for the dresser. You definitely brought it from pretty princess to gorgeous grown up!!! Great save from the trash.
It does look more grown up, doesn’t it!? 😃 Thanks so much my friend! XOXO