Birch Dresser Updo - Key Lime Pizzazz!

After our move to Texas, I was relieved to not have a spare bedroom with dark yellow walls.  Although it fit with the brown/orange safari theme, I really hated it.  Now, our spare bedroom is back to white walls and I've been ready to get some new color into that furniture!

I started with the easiest piece, a 4-drawer birch dresser that I got at an occasional shop in Dassel, Minnesota for $20.  The drawers were magically that same ugly yellow color, which matched our old room, but it needed to GO! 

My Starting Color, Yuck!

I really want to spunk up the spare bedroom with some color, so I jumped off the crazy bridge and went for Key Lime Green.  It is pretty bright, but I think it's going to have the perfect effect once I have all of the furniture in that room painted accordingly.

You can also check out my other post on painting laminate furniture HERE.

The surface of this dresser was so smooth, I didn't even bother to sand it.  I simply wiped it down with a wet paper towel before beginning to paint.  I also had the genius idea to use spray air to clean out the drawers of dust, glitter, etc.  You can use spray air for EVERYTHING!  It is super cheap, too!

Step 1:  PRIMER.  I once again used Zinsser Primer for All Surfaces.  This has worked great for me and only costs around five bucks.  I used a medium bristle brush on my drawers, and a small foam brush on the edge of the dresser itself.  All in all, I did one coat which only took about 10 minutes to put on.  I let it dry over night.

 

One Thin Layer

Step 2:  PAINT.  I opted for a spray paint for this project.  I originally chose spray paint because of some decorative edges that are on a future project {coming soon, I hope}.  It worked great for these simple drawers and made for a quick layer.  I did two layers in one night, with an hour of drying time between. 

 

Since I used spray paint, I had to tape some edges with blue painter's tape in order to keep the off-spray under control.  

 

I did not put a topcoat/clear coat on this dresser. The spray paint had a glossy finish, so I left it as is. I also have a feeling I may want to re-paint some time in the next year, so I figured: the less coats, the better.

 

 



The finished project turned out great.  I took me a few days after work, but you could easily complete this project in one day and be ready to go!

Done!  The lighting is bad, but you get the jist.

This is an edited picture, but this color is closer to what it actually looks like.


I will be buying some more unique drawer pulls in the near future to make it a bit more funky. Also, note that I only painted the vertical edges of the dresser itself because the silly previous owners had painted it that nasty yellow, so I had to go over it! I really wish the edges were the original brown so that the drawers had a very framed look. Oh, well...

Let me know what you think!  Do you have any furniture projects coming up?  I am becoming a fun color fiend if you are in need of any inspiration!