Have you ever heard the saying “One person’s junk is another man’s woman’s treasure?
I have become a big fan of other people’s junk! I am the ultimate scavenger and I am always on the hunt for a piece of furniture on the side of the road just awaiting it’s rescue. Do you have this same “problem”? I can say that I barely drive with my eyes glued to the road…I’m paying attention to the garbage can accompanied by the pile of possible treasure sitting next to it. Well…I had a great find just a few weeks ago while driving to pick up another purchase found on craigslist. There was a few items some broken and some that just would probably not work in my house, but then I came across this chest that would be a perfect fit for my bedroom makeover.
I had already planned on not having matching nightstand or chests on the side of the bed. Wanting to keep things more eclectic I am trying to find pieces that work well together but not a bedroom that looks like it can be sitting inside a furniture showroom. If you get what I mean. So having just one chest would not be a problem and it’s FREEEEEEeeee!!!
So Mr. put the piece in the car and we went on our way to pick up our craigslist find and now had accomplished getting two pieces of furniture in one day. Can’t beat that! Especially since it was under $50!
My plan for the piece was to go with a very white chippy look. The chippier the better! My inspiration was Miss Mustard Seed’s white chest here in this photo
I do plan on eventually trying out her Milk paint, but for this project I chose to use something that was easy to get my hands on and pretty affordable…Michael’s Craft Store new Chalk paint.
I was very excited to see that Michael’s decided to come up with their own chalk paint since it is much closer than the antique furniture shop that I usually buy my ASCP from. It is also quite affordable less than $9 for a a small jar of paint. The size of the jar is definitely bigger than the ASCP sample size and that costs around $15. So I could not go wrong with trying this out and I felt it should be enough for a small chest.
I gave my chest about 3 coats of the white Chalk paint and I avoided certain sections to create an extra chippy distressed finish. I did not want to do a thick coat on the entire piece since it would be harder to distress. Looking back on the project I should have just applied some Vaseline to certain sections since I heard this helps also when distressing. I had yet to paint a piece that I wanted a heavy amount of distressing so I never added that step in, but I think hat definitely would have helped.
My thoughts on the Michaels Chalk Paint
Worked just like any other chalk paint I have used thus far. I bought two jars, but barely tapped into the second one. The paint dried pretty quickly and surprisingly crackled more so than any chalk-paint I had used before. Not sure if this was due to my 3 coats done back to back, but I did test the paint to make sure it was dry before adding each coat. I was grateful for the crackle though since like I said I really wanted this piece to be pretty chippy. I would definitely recommend this paint especially for a small piece of furniture since the paint is so affordable and the colors they have available are all pretty nice.
I really wanted gold hardware on the drawers since I am adding all gold accents throughout my room, but I couldn’t bare to buy 8 new knobs and pulls. Instead I left the top 4 white knobs and just bought some gold pulls from Lowes for the bottom. Hardware can get quite expensive and I did not want to turn this free piece into an expensive fixer upper. Each half-moon pull cost around 4.99 and it was the perfect antique gold that I was looking for.
I added some decor to the top and trying to style my room and piece with a french country feel. I have a way to go with this room though, but glad I at least have the walls painted, a new Upholstered style bed, my Reupholstered French Style Chair and now my chippy white chest.
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| The Before |
This post definitely goes to show that you can turn junk into treasure! Luckily the piece was clean and the drawers worked perfectly.
So glad you stopped by! Love your comments and feedback!
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25 Responses
LOVE YOUR MAKEOVER, SO CUTE, I WOULD LOVE TO FEATURE IT, IF THAT WOULD BE OK LET ME KNOW,
LAUREN
Thanks so much Lauren! Of course you can feature it : )
It’s a whole new dresser! It looks so good! I’m the same way about not wanting our bedroom to matchy matchy. We bought our bed from a big box furniture store, and I sort of wish I had held out for something more antique/vintage. Thanks for the review of the Michael’s paint too. Is that the Plaid Folk Art brand?
Thanks Lauren! The paint from Michael’s is the Americana Decor Chalky Finish. Maybe I’ll take a picture of it and post it here tomorrow. That was a really helpful comment actually I am sure that could be confusing since I only listed it as “Michael’s Chalk Paint”
Looks good! I did not know that Michael’s is selling chalk paint now. Thanks for the tip.
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
Thanks Susan! Yep…it’s so clever since chalk paint can be hard to get your hands on sometimes. Especially for small projects : )
What great makeover..this chest looks awesome! New follower! Thanks so much for joining my July Hobnob!
Kim
Thanks so much Kim! So glad to have a new follower ; )
Great makeover! I have an old baby dresser in my room (sadly using as my dresser) that needs a makeover. Great tips, to encourage me to try it 🙂
Thanks Heather…So easy and super affordable!
Looks so great! and I love the different hardware!
I didn’t know any other way to contact you but I was invited to join a blog tour & wondered if you would be interested in joining as well.
Its basically a blog post with a few pics & answering some questions.
If you are interested (and I hope you are) let me know asap
I would need your email to send you all the details!
email: threedogfarmhouse@yahoo.com
Hope to hear from ya soon!
This turned out beautifully! Great job on the pianist and finishing! I love your styling of the accessories on top, too 🙂
Thanks so much Julie for your comment. The accessories are always my favorite, but I definitely have more ideas and decor to add!
Looks fantastic! What a great find!
Thank you Lisa! Can’t beat a free piece of furniture on the side of the road : )
What a lucky find! I love the “new” dresser 🙂 I just painted an old dresser-turned-console with white and it looks fab…there’s just something about white that freshens everything up!!
Thank you so much Cindy! I love a great white piece. I will have to check out your blog and see the piece if you posted about it yet!
What a great piece!!! The after is just beeeeeautiful, I think you nailed the chippy goodness perfectly 🙂 We’d love for you to share at our link party over the weekend! XO
thanks so much…I hope it’s not too late to join the link party, I have been away from my computer almost alll weekend : 0
Beautiful. Its so pretty.
I can’t believe people throw items like this by the roadside
Glad it has a new home 🙂
Thank Edea! I agree…but not complaining ; )
So beautiful! Thank you for sharing. You are one of the features tonight at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Here is the link to the party. http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2014/07/make-it-pretty-monday-week-108.html Hope to see you again at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Oh my gosh, it’s gorgeous!!! I love the color you used. I am the same way, I found to perfectly good pieces of furniture this week by the trash!! Sometimes people don’t know what they have or just don’t want to spend the time painting it. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, I’m pinning it to the party board. 🙂
So glad I did…and glad you stopped by! Love to see what you do with those two pieces you found.
Great transformation! Super cute! Thanks for sharing with us at Your Designs This Time!
Emily & Erin