Antique Gentlemen’s Dresser Makeover
This antique gentlemen’s dresser makeover will have you wanting to find one of your own! The difference paint can make is remarkable!
how to refinish an old dresser
Paint is amazing.
It is one of the easiest ways to transform just about anything.
Even a dull and drab piece of furniture like this gentlemen’s dresser.
Paint transforms a piece so quickly.
Well at least after you have done all of the prep work!
how to prep furniture for paint
Thankfully, this antique gentlemen’s dresser didn’t need much in the prep work department.
All he needed was a good shop vac-ing and a good cleaning with Simple green and water.
Then he was ready to paint!
the perfect paint for an old dresser
Yep, I’m calling this one a ‘he.’
Since the dresser is a gentlemen’s dresser (will talk about why it is a gentlemen’s dresser later in this post), I decided on Miss Mustard Seeds Milk Paint in Typewriter.
It’s a rich and dark black that comes to life when you apply hemp oil.
The top was left in the natural wood and was sealed with General Finishes High Performance top coat in Flat.
The flat finish of the top coat gives the look of a hand-rubbed wax finish with the durability of polyurethane.
I love that stuff!!
what is a gentlemen’s dresser?
Do you see the box sitting on top of the dresser? There are two of them – one on each side.
These two boxes were used by a gentlemen for his gloves, his wallet/money clip, his loose change and his pocket watch.
Those items could be tucked away at the end of a work day and would be ready for the next work day.
handsome drawer pulls
The tear drop pulls add the perfect amount of detail to the carved wood back plates. They cleaned up nicely with a tiny bit of sanding on the wood part and Rub n Buff on the metal part.
Drawer pull perfection!
antique gentlemen’s dresser makeover
Thanks for stopping by for this antique gentlemen’s dresser makeover.
As you can see, not all makeovers are labor intensive.
Some just need a quick sanding, a quick cleaning and then they are ready for the fun part – painting!
PS. You might notice some difference in the tone of the milk paint color in the images of this post. I usually shoot in natural light in my studio but for this shoot, I used some additional photography lights. I’m not a huge fan of the studio lights but it took this experiment for me to figure this out 🙂
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Until next time…
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This piece is perfection, Cindy! I love the color you chose and the hardware is amazing too. It’s all really elegant. As always you are so talented and such an inspiration too! Big hugs, CoCo
Thank you CoCo! That hardware stole my heart! Have a great day!
This is was the perfect transformation of this piece. Beautiful!
Thanks, Leslie for the encouragement!
Oh wow! What an amazing transformation. Those drawer pulls are to die for! Thanks for sharing this – great inspiration.
Thanks Carol! And yes, those drawer pulls are a-maze-ing!!
Cindy, I love what you did with this piece. Those handles are gorgeous. The perfect color for this vintage dresser.
Don’t you love those handles?? Thanks for stopping by Tammy!
Oh the power of paint! You have created an absolutely gorgeous piece of furniture that will last forever! I love the color and that the top is left unpainted.
Thanks for sharing this beauty;)
You did an amazing job on this makeover. Your gentlemen’s dresser looks wonderful. I think this piece may have originally had a mirror attached to it because my mom has a dresser that looks exactly like yours and there’s a mirror attached. Is this for you or will you sell it?
I think you are right Paula. We recently reworked another gentlemen’s dresser and it had a mirror. Plus this one had marks on the back where it would have attached. This piece sold and believe me, I would have loved to kept it!
It turned out magnificently. The hardware is perfection.
Isn’t that hardware amazing?? Thanks for stopping by!
This is an amazing makeover! I always say paint is magical and yo worked your magic on this piece. Love the top you kept wood.
Love the drawer pulls too.
Will you keep this? It’s probably hard to keep everything.
I only wish I had enough rooms for all the makeovers! The piece sold very quickly so I’m glad for that!
This gentleman’s dresser makeover is gorgeous – I love the colour! How do you manage to get your hands on such amazing furniture pieces?
Jayne, you would never believe the huge pile I pulled this out of in a rummage sale. It was definitely worth it!
Cindy, you have such vision. That is a fabulous transformation. What a beautiful piece. We have an antique bedroom set and it’s seen better days, but I’ve never really thought about painting it. Until now. Off to pin this to my Fabulous Furniture board so I can remember it if I get brave this summer!!
Yes! Put your brave boots on and grab a paint brush!!
This dresser turned out marvelous! Thank you for sharing!
And thank you for stopping by!
This piece is so gorgeous! The color you chose is very “gentlemanly” ! I love the drawer pulls.
Isn’t black the perfect color for this handsome dresser?? Thanks for stopping by!