This week I’ve got this little chest of drawers that was calling out to me and I’m pretty sure it was saying that it needed color and LOTS of it! Even Cannon agreed, he didn’t even want to look at it, it was so boring! I couldn’t say no to that face, so let’s get started with a boho dresser makeover with layers. I’m going to use 4 different chalk mineral paint colors on this one and I’ll show you how to dry brush to get lots of light and bright layers on your furniture.
Supply List for the Boho Dresser Makeover With Layers
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Surf Prep Sanding Kit (Use coupon code BELLARENOVARE10 )
Step 1: Clean and Remove Hardware
Like every piece, I started off by cleaning it really well with my White Lightening and a clean rag and removed all of the hardware. As always, with any type of furniture makeover or painting project, don’t skip this step. It’s really important to remove any dust and dirt and have your piece fresh before you get started with paint.
Here is the before image – I was getting ready to clean it, but this gives you a good idea of what I was working with.
Step 2: Adding Wood-U-Bend Mouldings to the Boho Dresser
I love keyholes! Real or faux they can make a piece look amazing and I felt like they were missing on this chest of drawers. You can actually get faux keyholes and apply them to your furniture, paint over them and noone will even know that they aren’t real. I’m using Wood-U-Bend keyholes for this piece.
I also added a border around the bottom of the piece, just to give it a bit more detail.
I started off by measuring the center so I’d know where to place the faux keyholes. I used a measuring tape and my Speed Stick. The first thing you want to do is heat up the keyholes. They are pretty tiny so I used a screwdriver head to hold it in place while I heated it to avoid burning my fingers.
After they’re heated and are bendable and flexible, apply wood glue to the entire back of the moulding. Use your finger to make sure that the glue is covering the whole surface area. It may start to stiffen while you’re applying the glue but that’s ok. Find the marking where you made your measurements and put the moulding in place. Using your hairdryer or heat gun, reheat until it softens again. Using tape, tape it down to the surface and let it dry for about an hour.
I repeated this process with the long strip for the border at the bottom. This one is more time consuming because I didn’t want to cut smaller pieces and then have to fill in the gaps in between. I wanted to work with the longer piece and take my time to have it go right across the bottom. It’s easiest to work in chunks here. Measure for the right length and then start by heating it so that it unwinds and is flexible from the roll. I applied the wood glue, then reheated it, taped the left side in place, then reheated the next chunk of it, taped it in place and made my way down to the other end, making sure that the tape was tight and holding the border in place.
I let it dry for an hour and then it was ready to paint.
Step 3: Bright Paint Colors for the Boho Dresser Makeover
To me, these 4 chalk mineral paint colors are going to give it a cute boho look so I’m using Peony as the base color, then Peacock, Florida Orange and Limeade.
I started by painting 2 coasts of Peony over the entire piece.
Once the Peony was dry, I started to layer my other paint colors one by one.
By the way, I used a nice brush for the 2 coats of Peony, but switched to a cheap or premium chip brush for the dry brushing and you can do that too.
You don’t need a lot of paint on the brush because this is just a dry brushing technique. You don’t want to get rid of the pink entirely, but you do want to add a bit of color overtop and create layers of color.
Peacock went on next.
Once the Peacock was dry, I layered on Florida Orange, again dry brushing only.
Again, once that was dry, I dry brushed on the Limeade.
It’s looking a little rough here, but that’s ok, I started to smooth out those colors and softening certain areas next.
Step back and take a look at the piece. Do you want a bit more blue or a bit more pink or orange? Start adding what you want to those areas. Trust the process here, it will work out and all start to come together soon. Remember, this is dry brushing so you only want to use a little bit of paint and a light hand when adding your colors.
If the brush lines look too hard, you can start going into the corners with more paint and soften the lines. Dab on the paint and use your fingers to soften while the paint is wet.
Step 4: Adding Copper and Gold Gilding Wax
The next step was going in with the copper gilding wax to create a metallic look on the edges and on the keyholes. After that I used the gold gilding wax, and using a large makeup brush, I dry brushed the gold wax over the entire piece to add one more layer of dimension.
Step 5: Time to Make the Hardware Bling
This boho dresser makeover wouldn’t be complete without some gold hardware so I used the same gold Gilding Wax to give it some bling. The gilding wax is oil based and once applied it needs to sit for 24-48 hours. It’s self sealing and won’t rub off once it has cured. Make sure you give it enough time!
Step 6: Why I Didn’t Paint The Drawer Sides
The drawers on this piece are very tight and if I were to paint them it would affect the way they open and close. Also the paint would scratch each time. I pulled out all the drawers and used a Rad Pad and sanded off any paint that might have gotten on the drawers. Painting the tops and sides of them would have just caused more problems, so I left it as the original wood, which happens to add to that boho charm.
Did that seem too easy? Dry brushing is quick and easy and perfect for beginner furniture painters to try their hand at layering. If you want to see the Boho Dresser Makeover With Layers video, click the link below. It’s short and sweet but you’ll see the piece get transformed from the beginning.
Finished Boho Dresser Makeover with Lots of Layers
If you love furniture painting, make sure you take a look around the blog.
Happy Creating and see you next week!
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