It's a Horvath's Life: Totally Turquoise Dresser Makeover

A few days ago I gave you a sneak peek of my new dresser for the den. I have been wanting to get rid of that huge black cabinet in the den for a while now. When we moved into this house we were furniture-less and free stuff pretty much made my day. But it’s been a few years and I have come to realize that the giant black cabinet is not really suitable as a sideboard and is really too big for the space. Since this realization, I’ve been on the lookout for a wide, but not too deep, dresser or cabinet with lots of storage and character. Mama found this one for me and score… it’s perfect! Long and skinny, with curves and character and nine drawers to keep all my crafty junk organized.

I knew I wanted to paint the dresser some bright, fun color. Inspiration ultimately came from my bird pillow.

I used my tried-and-true method of color selection which involves taking a fabric swatch to the paint store. I picked a swatch that I thought closely matched the bird-pillow-blue. It is Olympic’s “Caribbean Splash”. Just the thing to banish the winter blahs!

I think I must be on a turquoise kick lately… I’ve used it as an accent in the guest room, in the living room, on our totally turquoise garden swing makeover, and now in the den. I don’t care if turquoise is so 2010 and that this year’s color is supposedly “tangerine tango”. I’ve never been on time with the trends anyway. :)

In my haste to get started on the transformation, I forgot to take a before picture of the dresser! :( You will just have to imagine what it looked like in a wood tone and sad and neglected-looking. Here’s what the drawers looked like before I attacked them with a paint brush.

And here is the dresser after the primer step:

Basically I sanded the flat parts, wiped the whole thing down with soapy water and starting priming. I used latex primer and semi-gloss latex paint.

I put two coats on the drawers (that was pretty much torture). Look at all those little nooks and crannies! Persistence paid off and it looks great.

I put three coats on the cabinet since it was mostly flat planes of wood and there were more visible brush strokes. I wish I had let the paint dry a bit longer between coats, because the final coat is a little sticky. Hopefully it will cure up eventually. :)

Before I could reassemble the dresser I had to go hunting for new hardware. One of the original pulls was missing and had an ugly bail pull in its place. This. Will. Not. Do. So I searched the worldwide web, went to Lowe’s, and went to two Habitat Restores before I found a suitable substitute. It’s curvy in the right places and actually (miraculously) fit the existing holes. All the pulls got a fresh coat of spray paint to unify them. I replaced two of the pulls to make it symmetrical and seemingly-intentional. Can you spot the new pulls? They look okay, right?

After it was all finished, we (me and four of those miracle mover discs) removed the black cabinet from the den and then Michael helped me put the new one in place. I stood back to see the results and my eyes bugged out of my head! Boy, it’s bright!! :) Then I waited a week or something ridiculous for the top to dry… (it’s still not completely cured for some reason, but I gave up on waiting! If the finish is scratched up later, I’ll repaint it) before adding accessories on top so I could post this bad boy! (or is it a girl?)

I threw some greenish lanterns up there, a few photos and candles and a box full of dried hydrangeas. I love how the turquoise brings out the colors in the flowers. (Wish I had some more white ceramic birds to put on top, but alas…)

Oh and while I was spray painting the hardware, I slapped a new color on the lamp of requirement to match the new color scheme. It’s “dark bronze” by Rustoleum. (Now I think it needs a new shade or some trim?)

Then I stood back and was satisfied. See?

I backed my tripod into a corner to get that shot for you. Now you can see (if you haven’t already) how the hallway/laundry attaches to the den. You can also see that there is no room for a person to sit in the cream chairs. (Pillow obsession? Check.) Don’t worry, Bandit still fits. :)

I stole the teal throw from the living room (where it’s been hanging out since I stole it from the guest room). My poor accessories get no peace… I can’t stop moving them between rooms. Anyway you can see how the teal throw and turquoise pillow tie into the color scheme with the new dresser.

And since we’re here anyway, here is a shot of my winter themed mantelscape. Snowmen + blue and white = winter. Very scientific, I know. I don’t expect it to last very long. Maybe if it would snow already (I want to try out our new sled!) I could get over winter and move on to my perpetually-early Spring decorating. :)

So that brings us to the end of our dresser reveal. It’s awesome, I love it… here’s why:

So much lighter and brighter!

The new dresser is shorter than the giant cabinet was so I need to move the artwork down a bit. I am planning to replace the landmark prints (these, too, were a freebie from a friend) with something more “natural”. And I’m going to paint it so it will fit in the existing frames. :) Someone remind me I said that, okay? Something like this (see how I moved the art down… like magic!):