Fifth times a charm! With the help for this stunning floral furniture transfer!
FIVE ya'll! This same dresser has been painted by ME five times!
If you've followed me for very long you know that my daughter Zadie takes full advantage of the fact that I am a furniture painter and room designer! She requests to change her room decor as often as some people change their clothes! She knows that we can do it on a dime budget and still make it look fantastic....and I think she enjoyed my undivided attention while I work on her room rather than someone else's. So with each change in decor.....since she was FIVE yrs old....we have repainted this dresser. See the last room redesign HERE.
It was a trip down memory lane while we stripped and peeled the layers from the top surface of this beauty! I remember each color and each room......and there was real emotion tied to the paint curls and shavings you see below.
And there is something SOOOO satisfying about stripping paint...take a look at this short video and decide for yourself. Do you agree?
This will be the last time I paint this dresser. She was now gone with a completely different vibe....very minimalist...and no longer wants this beauty! So I have given it one last dose of love and will set it free on the open market to live in someone else's home!
2 Reasons to Strip Furniture
You need a really good solid foundation to paint over the top of it
If you there's a wood surface underneath paint and you want to do a stained top vs a painted top. It's really trendy to have painted piece of furniture and a really pretty, natural wood stained top. In order to make it wood-stained, you'd have to strip all the paint coatings and varnish off that top surface to get down to the wood. (And sometimes even pull off the veneer)
2. If you have lots of paint and product that's built up. If the paints flaking or bubbling.. Then you need to get it all off. Which is this painted dresser 100%.
How to Strip Furniture
Tip #1: When using CitriStrip, my tip is to use Saran Wrap with it. You want to coat on a really thick layer of CitriStrip in a well-ventilated room or do this project outside/in your garage.
Put long layers of plastic wrap over the top of your piece. You don't have to leave it overnight, usually it takes just a few hours to work. Spot check it. It will start to be gummy and really easy to push back with your scrapers.
Tip #2: Others will tell you to use a plastic scraper, but I prefer metal. It just works better but you have to know how to use it. Lie it down on a flat angle. If you pick the handle up too much (past a 45 degree angle) it will gouge and damage the top of the wood. You want it to glide under the paint and across the surface. Be very careful!
Tip #3: Keep a large number of trash can, rags and paper plates near you, so when you scrap off a big clunk of paint it falls right into a receptacle. Also have paper towels nearby to wipe off your scraper with each stroke. You want to keep it as clean and free of paint chips.
Tip #4: Sometimes you can't get all the paint off when you strip. Then you just use your electric sander to do that last smooth out. Plus when you strip, sometimes there's just different levels left. Run the electric sander over it before you stain or paint the top.
PS - If you're going to stain it all of the paint has to be GONE.
Tip #5: If you need to strip the paint from all of the carvings and legs, you'll need to use the CitriStrip technique and really coat it, let it sit and then get in there with steel wool, toothbrushes, scrub brushes, wire brushes to really scrape up all the paint. It's a real pain.
This dresser had about 6 layers of paint. But I only stripped where it was FLAT on the top surface.
She's been stripped and sanded.....
.....cleaned and primed!
I worked on her week by week on my Wednesday night LIVE broadcast Whimsical Wednesdays. She required a TON of product....but it was totally worth it for a last hurrah!
I chose a very unusual color pallet as the backdrop for this floral furniture transfer that I've been dying to use! Below you can see the blended colors across the front.....and I honestly could have stopped here and been happy! Isn't it pleasing to the eye?? Almost like "desert canyon meets piney woods."...or "sunset meets the ocean"......
From this angle you can see the true curves of the dresser. They add so much depth to the piece....but will soon present me with a struggle when applying the floral furniture transfer. Check out those colors though.....on the left top we have Vintage Duck Egg blended into Palmetto blended into the brand new Deep Woods metallic green which is too die for! Then the far right top is Drop Cloth blended into Terracotta blending into the brand new Rusty Nail which I love!!!!
I had this vision of aging this piece with both a crackled transfer......shading with dark wax......sanding the top after staining....and using the Patina line from Dixie Belle for both of the front legs. I used the Copper Patina paint with the Green Patina spray on the right front leg.....and the Iron Patina paint and the Green Patina spray on the left leg. I wanted the ends to be just as different at the front is....divided in finish from left to right.
I added more patina to the final finish after I completed the transfer and the side panels. If you'd like to learn more about this patina painting technique, check out my tutorial here.
I painted stripes tone-on-tone stripes across the skirt front because......I find it difficult to not always incorporate stripes. I love the Palmetto against the Deep Woods metallic....it is a lovely combo!
I then began the tedious work of adding the Royal Burgundy floral furniture transfer (now sold out - but more coming soon, get on my email list to be notified) to this carved and curvy beauty! It was not easy....and is far less than perfect.....but the end result was no doubt worth the struggle!
The entire body of the piece was sealed with Dixie Belle's top coat in Satin.
So here she is in all her glory....ready to be set free from the Bellion house and enjoyed by someone else!
I chose to stain the top with Dixie Belles Voo Doo Gel Stain in Tobacco Road.....and I love the sheer and natural look it gave me. I lightly distressed it and used their Hemp Oil to both enhance and protect the finish!
The side panels are a less than perfect decrepit finish that is both haunting and beautiful! I used the Redesign with Prima stencil called Imperial Damask and spray paint (what????) yep....spray paint.....to give me that washed and over-sprayed look. I embellished it by bringing more of the rusty and crusty patina around the sides!
I completed the overall finish by enhancing the details and hardware with metallic gold! A little touch of fancy mixed with a heck of a lot of aging ......is always intriguing!
I hope you love her as much as I do! I envision her as a feature piece in someones dramatic dining room! I think she'd make a lovely buffet/server!
I've listed each and every product below for you......for easy click and shop! I would love to know if this color palette has inspired you!
Shop: Floral Furniture Transfer Dresser
The products listed here are what I used for the floral furniture transfer dresser project! Dixie Belle Paint company offers amazing products that will make all of your projects successful no matter what your skill level! Just click on any of the products shown below! You can also find my favorite products and tools - like the furniture stripping tools - in my Amazon influencer list here.
My Fave Transfers
If you love the floral image transfer I used on this piece, you should check out this post: My 9 Favorite Image Transfers for Painted Furniture
Learn to Paint Furniture
I cover everything you need to know to paint your first piece of furniture without the confusion of what products to use, what steps to take and so you don't waste your time and money with a #pinterestfail. I wanna help you become a furniture painter and realize the satisfaction DIYing, creating and painting furniture! Click here to start your journey with my Furniture Painting Basics workshop for $27.99.
Or check out one of my advanced furniture painting tutorials here.
See you next week!
XOXO,
Tracey
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