Furniture re-dos Makeovers Projects

Copper Painted dresser for my daughter

My oldest daughter needed a place to store clothing on her new life adventure and asked me if I would make a painted dresser for her. I was honored, and of course said yes immediately.

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She had some requirements, of course. It needed to be compact and easy to transport. Being a huge fan of the mid-century style of furnishings, I had one in my stash that I thought would work quite well for her. The best part was that I knew if all went as planned, it would take long either (total WIN in my book).

Before

black dresser looking beat up and sad but sturdy in the middle of a workshop space

The process

I sent her a picture and she wasn’t at all impressed. Gratefully she trusted me. So I went to town sanding it and ended up here:

same dresser sanded down to the previous finish with some black left and tones of dark and medium brown

Better but not quite there. With her love of the Mid-Century style, I knew adding a metallic element would be just the thing. Adding some copper paint to highlight the unique features was the way to go.

close up of dresser edge with one coat of copper paint on it. Paint is light and not incredibly visible.

It wasn’t dark enough for my liking so I added a second coat. Metallic is tricky to photograph so I put the white cloth there to give you an idea of the shine and actual colors of the piece.

close up of top of dresser with copper  edge and white cloth placed on top

Once the metallic touches were added, I used polyurethane on top to make it durable against life and spills. My workshop is overrun with extra stuff, but this lightly painted dresser is now ready for her new home.

picture of dresser from the top tangle o show the entire piece and the copper painted touches are shining and showing up as metallic.

Finished result

When you can make a loved one happy in the span of a few hours, I consider that a huge win! My daughter was thrilled and the painted dresser has already survived a few moves on her life adventure.

the copper painted dresser in place at a home with perfume bottles and self care products arranged well. A mirror is above it that reflects the other wall of the room that has a high shelf with various items of decor on it.

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a pinnable image of the finished copper painted dresser.

If you liked this post, you might also like Umbrella Dresser, artistic license, and Dressing with Audrey.

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2 Comments

  • Reply
    Judy Thomas
    January 9, 2020 at 7:49 PM

    I love the finish on the dresser. It looks so different.

    • Reply
      Scottie
      January 13, 2020 at 10:34 PM

      Thank you so much- me too and It’s the perfect size!

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