Morning Sunrise Painted Dresser

August 25, 2022 by Denise - 38 Comments

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HOW TO UPDATE A $20 THRIFT DRESSER WITH ONE COLOR! | BEFORE AND AFTER MORNING SUNRISE PAINTED DRESSER + YOUTUBE VIDEO

Hi sweet creative #sifamily, thanks for joining me today. Today I’m sharing how I updated this $20 thrift store dresser using ONE color! Yup, one color with no fancy paint techniques, decoupage, or transfers, and it looks STUNNING! This is a perfect build your confidence beginners project and a reminder to all experienced furniture painters of the power of simplicity and color. I’m also sharing where I found the inspiration for this piece which even surprised me!

It’s also Furniture Fixer Upper Day where I join my beautiful and talented friends with their before and afters too… so be sure to give them a visit (link provided) at the end of today’s post! I know they’ll really appreciate it!

Here’s the $20 laminate thrift dresser I started with. It’s been in my inventory for months but what a cute shape — and I love the little legs.

Before I get into the how-to details here’s a sneak peek at the NEW look! What do you think of this color? Absolutely gorgeous, right?!

THIS POST IS SPONSORED/CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS TO PRODUCTS I USE. YOU CAN SEE MY FULL DISCLOSURE HERE.

SOURCE LIST

$20Thrift Dresser – SALVAGED
White Lightning
Scrubby Soap
Bondo All Purpose Putty
B-I-N Shellac Base Primer
Wood Filler
Paint Brush
Morning Sunrise Silk Paint
Gold Flower Pulls

TOOL LIST

Painters 9 in 1 Tool
Orbital Sander
Bosch 1/4 Sheet Sander

$20 MORNING SUNRISE PAINTED DRESSER

Before I get into the step-by-step tutorial, I want to share with you what inspired me to paint this dresser in Morning Sunrise.

Although I feel confident in styling my furniture, I haven’t been feeling confident styling myself. Working from home and wearing painting clothes on a daily basis has left me at odds with my ‘style’… or lack thereof. So, in the evenings I’ve been popping over to Youtube and watching fashion videos which are helping me figure out what I like and what I don’t like. I was watching this 10 Fall Fashion Trends Video on BusbeeStyle and although I wouldn’t wear the runway looks, I LOOOOVE the color! I’m guessing this color wouldn’t compliment my skin tone but it sure looks amazing on this dresser!

Here’s how it all came together…

REMOVE HARDWARE | CLEAN

I removed the hardware and $20 price tag and then cleaned this piece with this TSP substitute.

PRO TIP – I like to number the back of my drawers in pencil while removing them. Older pieces can sometimes have fussy drawers and this ensures they will be put back in in the order I took them out – without any issues with fit.

FILL WITH BONDO

Unfortunately, you can’t see the little bubbles in the picture below but when I publish the video this Saturday it will give you a better look. I tried something a little different when using Bondo to fill the hardware holes and imperfections. Rather than wait until the Bondo was 100% dry and then sand, I used my Painters Tool to scrape the overspread of Bondo off the drawers when it was 50% dry. This way, I didn’t have to sand quite as much. I’m still on the fence if I like this technique better, but I’ll keep you posted.

SAND | PRIME

Once the Bondo was 100% dry I went ahead and gave this dresser a scuff sanding and then primed it with this BIN Shellac Base Primer. I have a full tutorial including a video on how to use this bonding and stain blocking primer here.

FILL AND SAND

Have you ever tried wood filler AFTER priming?! Using this wood filler, I filled in all the little cracks and dings. I like applying my primer first because then I can see ALL the little areas that need a little filling. This gives a flawless finish especially since I was painting it one solid color.

After the wood filler had dried, I gave it a sanding to smooth everything out and then added another layer of primer.

PAINT

As in most makeovers, the prep took longer than the actual painting. I applied two coats of this gorgeous Morning Sunrise using my Medium Oval Brush! I had an email last week asking why I used an oval. The answer is these are quality brushes that spread beautifully. An oval brush will fan out and spread the paint nicely. I’m sharing this oval brush in action in the Youtube video below!

And using this No Brush Marks Slap ON technique for the legs, they turned out perfectly smooth!

I painted two coats and used 1/4 of this 16oz jar. Plenty leftover for another project and I can’t wait to use this color again!

TOPCOAT | PROTECTION

No top coat is needed for this dresser because the topcoat is included in the paint.

NEW HARDWARE

I replaced the old hardware with these Gold Flower Metal Pulls from Amazon. So dainty and pretty and the gold looks gorgeous with the muted Morning Sunrise!

Here’s the finished look! Aren’t these gold pulls adorable? They add the perfect ‘bling’ to this muted mauve!

YOUTUBE TUTORIAL

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on Youtube. If you have any problems viewing below, feel free to watch it on my Youtube Channel HERE. Our #siyoutubefamily hit the 15K mark (thank YOU!) so don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t done so already! So exciting, thank YOU! 🙂

AND NOW FOR SOME FURNITURE FIXER-UPPER FUN!

You’re going to LOVE what my creative team of Furniture Fixer Upper ladies do! Below are their BEFORE photos. Visit the links below to see the amazing AFTERS and learn how they did it! I’m heading over to take a peek as well! x

1. CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL DIYER

2. PETTICOAT JUNKTION

3. SALVAGED INSPIRATIONS (HAPPY YOU’RE HERE!)

4. GIRL IN THE GARAGE

Here’s another look at this dresser’s before and after. I hope it’s inspired you and given you some new color ideas for your projects!

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS $20 DRESSER MAKEOVER AND THIS COLOR! FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE… I ALWAYS LOVE HEARING FROM YOU. IT MAKES MY DAY! 🙂

Happy furniture painting friends!

Denise x

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