Freshen up your bedroom with a newly painted dresser

Everyone loves having a place to call home.

However, you can easily become frustrated with your property's interior vibe. Tired-looking furniture, drab carpet or unpleasant wall colour can make your home seem more like a fixer upper than a humble abode. 

Fear not! There are plenty of ways you can make a real difference to your interior design with some trusty paint and a spare afternoon. One project that is low-cost but can make a huge impact is a bedroom dresser revamp.

Even the kids could help out – if you let them use the brush, make sure they've got a steady hand! If the dresser is for a child's room, let them have some input with colour choice.

Why paint your dresser?

Whether you're unimpressed with your dresser's wood grain or you simply want to mix things up, a straightforward paint job could be an afternoon well-spent.

It goes without saying you'll need a wooden dresser that you're happy to makeover with paint – it's up to you whether to use an existing piece of furniture or rummage at your local second-hand shop.

Preparation is key

This is a task you'll need to complete outdoors or at the very least in a well-ventilated space. Throw down a heavy drop cloth to protect the ground or floor. Pick a stiff material that paint will dry on as it splatters – there's nothing more frustrating than slippery tarpaulin!

Take your dresser apart as much as possible. At the very least, you'll need to remove drawers, plus you'll also need to take the handles off. If you want to update your dresser with a modern twist, invest in some square, brushed metal handles. Otherwise, if they're wooden, paint the existing handles.

Plug any holes with wood filler, then grab some medium-grade sandpaper and rub this on the dressers' surfaces in a circular motion. (If your dresser has a heavy varnish on it, then you will need to use coarse sandpaper.) Wipe the dresser down with a damp cloth when smooth and leave to dry.

Get the application right

Use builders' tape to mark off where you'll paint the dresser. For instance, you might paint the dresser's exterior, but leave the drawers' interiors untouched. Using tape will help you get a clean line.

Apply primer and allow to dry before using a roller to evenly apply paint to the dresser and each individual drawer. Then, use a finer brush to touch up the corners.

Choosing the right shade

Of course, there's no point having fantastic technique if the resulting dresser looks more 1970s than contemporary chic. While shades like yellow and orange are delightfully daring, they won't always work for bedroom furniture.

Then again, if kids are begging for an injection of colour in their rooms, brightly painted furniture is a good trade-off. You might be wary about painting a room's walls a jolly shade like Resene Knock Out, but it could look fantastic on a dresser.

Children may also adore colours such as playful Resene Home Run, electric Resene California or spirited Resene Seeker.

If you're painting a dresser for your own room or a guest room, you might like to play it like James Bond and choose a sophisticated shade like Resene Grey Olive.

Deep shades of brown, blue or green are a wise pick, too. Think anything from Resene Double Mondo to Resene Deep Teal.

And who said you only had to use one colour? Consider painting the outside one colour and the drawers another with the knobs in the third colour. Or mix and match. Colour blocking is also becoming more popular and furniture is a great way to try this out. Rather than one consistent colour aim for blocks of colour, either by painting different elements different colours or choose a geometric pattern and apply this over the entire dresser and create a talking point for the room.

Be sure to take the selected bedroom's existing decor into account before painting a dresser. Consider the shades of walls, flooring and window trims and pick a similar or even complementary hue for your furniture project. The Resene Find-A-Colour tool can be helpful to find colours that work well together.

This entry was posted in Decorating Inspiration, DIY/Homeowners Tips and Advice, Paint. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.