Yes, someone actually threw this wonderful little antique dresser away and I can’t believe it, either! Sure the veneer was chipped up in a few places & the top had seen better days, but this was all fixable stuff and I’m beyond thankful to have found this piece.
Not only did I want to give it new life, but I wanted to make it glamorous & glitzy and well, fun!
I started with two coats of Vintiques “Irish Linen” and applied it over the entire dresser, with the exception of the top, which was sanded & re-stained to bring back its natural beauty.
I then applied Heirloom Traditions “Barnwood” Soft Wax over the entire body, leaving the drawers alone. And as much as I dislike using wax, I love our colored waxes!! Did I mention they now come in a spray in addition to the soft wax formula…there’s no buffing required when you use the spray wax, BTW. And no, I didn’t use it because I don’t have it, yet (darn it).
Now that the body was taken care of, it was time to bling out those drawer fronts with Heirloom Traditions Aurora Staining Gels, in metallic of course (excluding Black Magic). *Please note that the gels need to be used over raw wood or any of our paints.
It’s really hard to get the metallic finish to show up in photos, especially when it’s dark & rainy outside, but I can assure you that these metallic gels do not disappoint & are stunning in person! This is Silver Bullet, Copper Mine, & Goldilocks.
Four days later, the sun finally showed up & I was able to snap a photo showing the metallic sheen better.
The Staining Gels are highly pigmented and I didn’t need to use very much. I believe I used about an ounce of each color, which I simply applied with a paint brush. It dried fairly quick, around 30 minutes max, and was super easy to use. I applied two coats of each only because I missed a couple of spots on my first coat. Otherwise, one coat would have been sufficient.
I could have made the top two drawers solid black, but I wanted to have some of the Irish Linen come through, so I applied the Black Magic gel sparingly & lightly distressed the drawers with a fine grit sandpaper.
The Aurora Staining Gels come in a variety of colors, with some being metallic, and are available to purchase as a set or single bottle purchase. They are water based, VOC Free, & Non-Toxic, which makes them great for kids to use, too.
2 Comments
Terrific job. It’s very unique. I like the color combination and the top drawer done dark lends a richness to the color below. Thanks for your information on how the staining gels work.
Thank you Susan 🙂