Don't Let Furniture [di]Stress You Out

I am notorious for starting projects and not finishing them.  Or, wanting to start projects and never starting them.  The fact that I not only began but COMPLETED a project I've been thinking about for years is a tremendous feat all its own.  The resulting fantastically awesome piece of furniture is just a bonus.

I forgot to take a picture of the dresser before I removed all the drawers and I didn't feel like putting them back in just for a photo.  So here are the "before" photos, getting prepped to paint:

 

 

I bought it several years ago at Hawthorne Vintage while I was still living in The Hut.  I liked the way the bold blue color looked on the black and white checkered floors.  But once I got it in my room here at The Brain, it just didn't hold together very well with the décor.  I've been wanting to distress a piece of furniture for a long time, so it seemed like the perfect time.

 

 

Nelle also had a piece she wanted to distress so we brought the dressers to her house and over a few sporadic sessions not without many, many beers and bonfires, I distressed the crap out this already pretty damn awesome piece of furniture.

 

 



Here are the steps to distressing from a total amateur who has never done this before:

1. Paint everything white (or whatever color you want the piece to be).  I did two coats for evenness.
2. Let it dry so it's fully set.  I left it for several days.
3. Start with a coarse sandpaper and sand the places where you want the wear.  It helps to be delicate with the coarse sandpaper -- too much pressure and it'll take off the color underneath.
4. Go over everything with a medium-grit sandpaper to refine the worn areas.
5. Finish with a very fine sandpaper to smooth out rough edges and snags.  Wipe everything down with a cloth.
6. I topped it off with vintage-inspired knobs from Hippo Hardware (which, by the way, is the best place ever on earth, EVER. http://www.hippohardware.com/index.htm?lmd=40605.680382).  For variety I used five of the clear glass fluted knobs, two clean-lined metallic grey knobs, and *one* clear glass amethyst colored knob and mixed them up.  Finished with the badass gilded mirror I bought the same day I bought the couch.

I love it!  It's perfect in my bedroom.  Once I make the room not a total $#!t hole anymore, I'll post a pic.