Hey All!

Just last year we were fortunate enough to find a trio of French style dressers all at the same place. As well as a fourth at an estate sale. None of them were a set as they were all different brands, but each one of them were absolutely beautiful and solid wood dressers! This style just happens to be one of our very favorites as they tend to have some beautiful curves, details and gorgeous hardware. They pair perfectly with many different decorating styles – from classic, to farmhouse, antique and of course French! Vicki and I both tend to snatch these up!

We decided not to put any of these together as sets rarely sell all together around our area anyway. Instead we decided to do each one differently! So without further ado we are going to share the many different colors and techniques of some French style dressers we recently upcycled!

1.) The first was this 6 drawer long dresser that was previously painted in that 80’s shiny white color. Here is the before. (Most of the time I forget to take a before photo to begin with, but remember when I am most of the way done prepping!)

This piece got all the prep work of cleaning really well (using Fusion TSP), a scuff sand as well as some primer since it was a slick surface. After all of that we painted the piece in one of Fusion’s newest colors called “Bellwood” – a gorgeous soft greenish, sage color. Just an absolutely beautiful color. For this dresser it had all of it’s original hardware intact and looking beautiful with all of it’s swirls. We love to reuse original hardware if they are in good shape and go with the look we want. For these we just cleaned them up and painted two coats of Fusion’s Metallic paint in “Champagne Gold”!

And take a look at it’s beautiful makeover!

This one sold rather quickly after we listed to our Etsy shop. And who can blame them! She turned out beautifully!

2.) The second dresser we finished was a chest of drawers that was in wonderful condition. I did not take a before of this particular one unfortunately. But it was just a mid-tone wood color. It had all the right curves and details that we decided to do a specialty finish on it after painting it in another of Fusion’s new colors! These French style dressers we picked up last fall were just perfect to try out all the new French inspired Fusion colors they had just released last July. Seriously – how perfect! This one Vicki painted in a dusky mid-tone blue called “Blue Pine”. A gorgeous color all on it’s own, but Vicki decided to do a glaze over the top. We used Fusion’s Clear Glaze and mixed a bit of the color “Ash” into it to tint the glaze the color we wanted. It deepened the blue perfectly and really helped to accent those indented details along the edges and by the drawers.

Glazing is really quite simple to do, it is a brush on, wipe off to your preference type of specialty finish. To see more about glazing check out our blog post HERE. It just really helps to bring a little oomph to the piece!

This one also had gorgeous original hardware that we kept! We ended up using a pewter hardware kit on those. It’s a two step kit, very similar to the glazing. You add a base coat of the silver and then a top darker color and then wipe off.

Such a beauty now! It’s new owner was just thrilled to have such a unique dresser.

3.) The third French dresser we most recently did was a long 9 drawer dresser that I really debated on keeping for myself! But I wasn’t ready for it in my home. It was so pretty though! It had quite a few scratches on the top so I decided to take my orbital sander to it and found the previous finish was coming off very nicely! It was a gorgeous wood veneer underneath so I decided to try my luck at sanding it down to save that beautiful wood. Now don’t be distracted by the word “veneer” most of these older pieces have veneer on them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t solid wood. A lot of times they used a cheaper wood as the body/bones of the piece and then wrapped it in a prettier, more expensive wood veneer. It doesn’t mean it isn’t real wood, or is bad, you just need to be careful when refinishing it as it is very thin.

But see that fun grain I found! I was pretty happy with the sanding results of this one, but primed the rest of the piece to get ready for the beautiful paint. For this one we again chose a new Fusion color – “Cashmere” a gorgeous off white, creamy without being yellow. The perfect blend of warm and cool cream. We love the classic look of pairing stained wood with a lighter cream or white color and this piece didn’t disappoint!

Check her out:

Isn’t she just gorgeous! I really love the way this one turned out. Unfortunately the original hardware for this dresser was unable to be salvaged as a couple were broken and one completely missing. And it is very difficult to find replacements that are exactly like the ones you have!

Just look at those pretty curves – and the soft creamy color of Fusion’s “Cashmere”. The bronze hardware give a nice contrast to the color as well.

 

And here you can see how gorgeous that veneer turned out! See – it was definitely worth saving! It was stained with one of our favorite stain colors “Dark Walnut” and sealed for protection as well as that lovely sheen on top. THIS is our all time favorite topcoat.

4.) And last but not least we did another French chest of drawers. This is one heavy and well built dresser. That’s for sure! It was another pre-painted piece that we felt no remorse in painting again.

After a good cleaning, scuff sanding and primer this piece was given a few coats of Fusion’s “Victorian Lace” a really gorgeous new white that is just perfect! I am SO in love with this new white and can probably say it is my new favorite.

But this piece needed some “fun” added to it’s details all around! So I used Fusion’s clear glaze and mixed in a mid-tone gray called “Little Lamb” to create my own tinted glaze. It gave the entire piece a subtle grayish tone and stayed darker in the indented detailed areas.

Just look at those curves and how the details really stand out! I am just in love with it!

The handles were cleaned and painted with another metallic paint color called “Brushed Steel” also by Fusion!

These French-style pieces just really speak to us and we adore each and every one of them! Whether they are neutral or a lovely color, whether you bring out the details with specialty finishes or not they always look gorgeous.

What color have you painted this French style of furniture?!