apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Tools::
Brushes, dropcloth, Phillips-head screwdriver Materials: Abused dresser, Olympic Low-VOC Primer, 1 quart Olympic Kitchen & Bath Semi-Gloss paint in "Caruso", acrylic art and craft paints in a variety of colors, drawer pulls

Steps:
We needed a budget-friendly dresser for our upcoming baby girl's nursery. I wanted to do something fun and colorful. I scrounged this unused dresser from my parents' house. It was originally purchased from a yard sale and my brother used it for many years growing up, so the finish was quite marred. 1. Removed unattractive and broken hardware. 2. Cleaned all surfaces with damp cloth and dried thoroughly. 3. Primed with Olympic low-VOC primer. Let dry and gave a second coat. 4. Painted all external surfaces with Olympic Kitchen & Bath Semi-Gloss (for durability and easy cleaning) and let dry. Past painting experience has encouraged me to leave the parts of the dresser you don't see unpainted, so that they don't stick or chip. The general guideline I use is to paint only the surfaces where the original finish was applied. 5. Gave second and third coats, with ample drying time between each coat. 6. After base coat was completely dry, I applied some fun colors on the dental molding. Not really following any sort of pattern, I mixed acrylic paints as I went along. 7. Installed new pull handles with screwdriver.

Sources::
Paint: Olympic low-VOC paints from Lowe's are affordable, accessible and really great to use, but I hardly ever see the Olympic brand on lists of environmentally friendlier options. I've used them in my entire house and have yet to be disappointed. Drawer pulls: The original hardware was an unusual size (2.5 inch spread between holes), but I was able to find a great deal on new pulls on eBay ($1.49 each!).

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