Two Tone Painted Furniture

October 27, 2022 by Denise - 51 Comments

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HOW TO TURN A BEAT-UP FBM FIND INTO AN UPDATED TWO-TONE PAINTED DRESSER | YOUTUBE VIDEO

Hi creative friends! Today I’m sharing how to update a piece of furniture using a two-tone paint finish. I bought this dresser off Facebook Marketplace over a year ago. The ad said it was in good shape but unfortunately it wasn’t. It sat in my garage until Nick repaired the top and drawers. Then it came down to my studio for more cosmetic fix-ups! I can’t wait to show you how it all came together with this updated two-tone finish!

It’s also one of my favorite days of the month – Furniture Fixer Upper Day! If you’re new to the #siblog, every fourth Thursday of the month my super-talented blogging besties and I get together and share our furniture flips. I’ve included the links to their before and after’s down below.

Here’s the thrift dresser I started with. Super cute but a little beat up. A few of you have mentioned how good the furniture looks in the before pic. Only sharing the front view of the before doesn’t show the extent of what these pieces need so I have included a few more before pics. Let me know what you think of this idea (and if you find it helpful) in the comments below. 🙂

The side of this dresser had someone’s name engraved into it. The entire time I was fixing this side I was trying to figure out the name. I’m seeing “Jean Dwyer”… what do you see?

The top had screw holes and deep divots and scratches in the boards.

Both sides had missing veneer as shown below.

The inside was a little beat up as well. Look at the insides of these drawers. I think “Jean’ got some really good use out of this dresser. hehe

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

SOURCE LIST

$15 Thrift Dresser – SALVAGED
White Lightening
Bondo | Wood Fill
Sand Paper | Tack Cloth
BIN Shellac-Based Primer
Endless Shore Silk Mineral Paint
Hampton Olive Silk Mineral Paint
Tape & Drape Masking Tape
Satin Clear Coat
Best Dang Brush
Big Mamas Butta
4″ Brass Hardware Pulls

TOOL LIST

Putty Knife
Orbital Sander
Heat Gun
Paint Gun Sprayer

TWO-TONE PAINTED DRESSER MAKEOVER

So let’s get to work and fix her all up! Here’s how it all came together…

PREP | CLEAN

I removed the vintage hardware and then cleaned this piece with this TSP substitute. Remember the inside, back, and bottom of the piece when cleaning your furniture. This is where the spider pods and dust like to hang out!

BONDO | SAND | PRIME

Before I sanded, I filled all the LARGE holes, gaps, and gouges with Bondo. I filled in everything that was easy to see. The hardware holes, the missing veneer on both sides, the gaps in the top boards, and more. Bondo was the first part of repairing this dresser and I have a full tutorial on How To Fix Furniture With Bondo here.

Once the Bondo dried, I sanded with my orbital sander until perfectly smooth and then using a roller, added one coat of BIN Shellac Based Primer. Part one of the fill and prime is DONE!

WOODFILL | SAND | PRIME

Now that I had the major flaws filled in and primed, I could see all the smaller remaining flaws perfectly. (Applying a coat of primer REALLY helps you see all the little scratches and dings you didn’t get the first time around!) Using a white wood fill, I went ahead and filled in all the rest of the scratches and dings making sure to overfill so it sands perfectly smooth.

Once the wood filler was dry and sanded smooth, I applied another coat of BIN Shellac Based Primer. This two-part fill and prime works really well if you have a lot of repairs.

SPRAY PAINT

After giving the primer a very light sanding with a 220-grit sandpaper, I used a tack cloth to wipe off the dust. Then I sprayed two coats of the gorgeous Endless Shore SILK All-In-One Mineral Paint. (I’ve had a few of you ask why I use primer when the Silk Paint has a built-in primer… it’s because I RARELY pick my paint/colors before I prep my pieces!) That said, if you KNOW you’re going to use this paint, no primer is required. 🙂

BLOCK OFF | TAPE OFF

To create a two-toned paint finish I had to mask off part of this dresser. I measured where I wanted my color blocking to go and then masked the dresser. This was my first time using this Easy Mask Tape & Drape and I LOVE it! Super easy to apply. The tape adhered really well and I didn’t have any issues removing it either.

SEAL FOR CRISP LINE

To create a crisp two-tone paint line, I used an artist’s brush and brushed on a thin coat of topcoat. This prevents the paint from bleeding under the tape for a perfect line!

SPRAY PAINT CUSTOM COLOR

I had a little Endless Shore still in my paint cup so I mixed some Hampton Olive in to create this gorgeous custom color. I would say it was 2/3 Hampton Olive to 1/3 Endless Shore however I didn’t measure exactly. If you’re using a neutral for your base color, if you mix a little into your feature color it will tie everything together really nicely.

While my second coat was still wet, I used my heat gun to warm up the tape before pulling it off. This is a great tip to make sure the base color doesn’t stick to the tape and pull off as well.

NEW HARDWARE

I ordered these 4″ Brass Hardware Pulls from Amazon and I think they work perfectly on this dresser.

REFRESH DRAWERS

Remember how bad the inside of the drawers looked? I sanded the insides of them and then gave them a refresh with this Big Mamas Butta. This is so easy to do. I brush it on with this large brush and then wipe the excess off with a soft cloth. This is so easy to do and it works amazing for ANY drawers that are looking a little worse for wear. Check out the before and after below!

Here’s the finished look! Super sweet, right?!

Isn’t this scalloped detail adorable!?!

And now we have beautiful clean drawers as well!

YOUTUBE TUTORIAL

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on Youtube. If you have any problems viewing it below, feel free to watch it on my Youtube Channel HERE. Our #siyoutubefamily is already a community of 18.9K 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. PETTICOAT JUNKTION

2. GIRL IN THE GARAGE

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

4. CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL DIYER

Here’s another look at this dresser’s before and after. I hope it’s inspired you and given you some new ideas for your projects. If so, feel free to PIN and SHARE so you can save it for later!

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS TWO-TONE DRESSER MAKEOVER. 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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