In this blog post, I will take you through my process of imitating the look of a beautiful and EXPENSIVE little dresser I fell in love with!
On a recent visit to the Ballard Designs store in the Philadelphia area, I spotted a small dresser with the most beautiful and vibrant green paint finish. Ballard actually categorizes this little dresser as a night stand. The Casa Florentina Louis XVI 4-Drawer Nightstand to be exact. I spotted it from across the room and excitedly moved toward it, only to discover it was $1,299…and that was the On Sale price!
Although I knew darn well it was well beyond what I was willing to pay, I went back to that cute little thing at least 3 more times before leaving the store. I took a picture of it before I left.
On the way home… in my empty car, I started thinking about recreating that look for myself. Besides, I’m a Facebook Marketplace regular and I’m not afraid of a good DIY project!
Finding a Similar Dresser
The first step was to try to find a similar item at a good price. I studied the photo I had taken of the original dresser and noted the following features:
- rectangular shape with no curves
- turned legs that set the bottom of the piece several inches up from the floor
- two small drawers on top, two more full length drawers underneath
- beautiful green finish
- oval-shaped brass hardware
- not previously painted by someone else
Marketplace often requires a great deal of patience to find just what I am looking for. In this case, however, I found a dresser right away that met most of my criteria with two exceptions…it had an attached mirror with a curvy trim panel detail and it had round wooden draw pulls that didn’t match the look I wanted.
Both issues would be easily rectified by removing the mirror and trim panel that was attached with screws and by replacing the drawer pulls.
Within hours, I was handing over $80 in cash for this dresser and loading it into my car!!
*Don’t miss some Facebook Marketplace buying tips at the end of this post!*
Refinishing My Marketplace Dresser
The first thing I did was remove the mirror and top trim panel. The result was a piece of furniture with very similar lines and proportions to the one I fell in love with!
Next, I sanded down the whole piece using both a random orbital sander and hand sanding. Although sanding down furniture that will be painted isn’t completely necessary, I think it’s worth the effort to ensure the paint has good adhesion and to have the smoothest paint finish possible.
Now it was time for the fun part–choosing the paint color and creating the final look!
Finding the Right Color
To find a paint color that closely matched the dresser I fell in love with at the Ballard store, I brought up the photo I had taken and adjusted the photo until it had the same warmth and intensity that the original piece had. This is an important step since the flourescent lights of the store skewed the photo image.
Next I went to Lowes, opened the photo and literally held paint chips next to my phone until I had a color that was a good match.
A small sample was all I needed. A 7.25 oz Sherwin Williams sample pot was about $7 and more than enough paint to finish this project.
Note: Although I prefer to buy paint directly from a Sherwin Williams store, they do not carry the smaller sample sizes that Lowe’s carries.
Next, I began painting. I like to use a mister to spray the surface as I paint. It allows the paint to spread so smoothly with few brush marks.
Replacing the Hardware
The next step in recreating the look of the beautiful Ballard dresser was finding the right hardware. I knew it would cost more to buy brass pulls, but I wanted the real thing. The hardware I choose has an antique finish over unlacquered brass which is a slight variation on the hardware on the original piece.
I lined the drawers with a peel and stick wallpaper for a nice, fresh look.
Here is the finished product! It’s just what I wanted with a total cost of about $165 including the dresser, the paint, the hardware and the wallpaper.
That is a savings of well over $1000!
Here they are side by side.
I had a lot of fun working on this project. It was actually one of the easiest furniture makeovers I have done! The savings was incredible and I ended up preferring this dresser to the inspiration piece, mainly because of the inset drawers and the beautiful dovetail detail. I also really love the antique finish on the draw pulls!
Here are a few tips to help you be successful when buying second hand.
Buying Marketplace furniture Tip #1: If you are planning to buy an item of furniture you want to paint, avoid furniture that someone else has already painted! I have learned this lesson the hard way. You don’t know the quality of paint or the care that was taken when applying it. You may end up with much more prep work than you expect just to get down to a good, clean paintable finish.
Buying Marketplace furniture Tip #2: Two questions you should always ask…Do the drawers work properly? Is it from a smoke-free home? If the answer is no to either of these questions, pass on that purchase! These two issues can be really hard to fix.
Buying Marketplace furniture Tip #3: Another tip related to smells…if you go to look at a piece of furniture and it smells musty, pass on that purchase. Especially if it is a dresser or cabinet you plan to use for storing clothing, sheets, towels, etc. The piece has probably been stored in a basement or other damp area for too long. Bin Primer and Shellac spray can help, but eliminating that musty, mildewy smell completely is very difficult!
Thank you for checking out this post.
Until next time!