Mr. Q and I picked up this beautiful antique dresser on the other side of the city a couple of weeks ago.

The seller was a very nice gentleman, but as soon as we stepped inside his house I knew he wouldn’t be happy that I was going to paint it.  It was probably because the house was full of lovingly refinished antiques.  Lots of shiny wood.  Everywhere.

I wasn’t going to mention that I would be painting it, but he asked me outright what I was going to do to it, and since it was already loaded in the truck at that point, I figured it was safe to admit that it would be painted.  Sure enough, his response was “oh, I wish I hadn’t asked!”

I should have kept his contact information though because I like to think that he would be happy with the end result.  True, it’s painted, but I got the most lovely crackled finish on this one.  I feel like it almost looks more authentic painted than it did with its former semi-shiny poly finish.

What originally drew me to this piece was this trim on the sides.  I knew it would just pop with a little paint and distressing.

The top of this dresser was already stripped when I got it, and it looked so nice that I decided to just wax it.

The body of the dresser got a base coat of Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in Eulalie’s Sky, followed by two coats of MMSMP in Linen.  I was hoping for some chipping to reveal the base coat, but got very little.  You can see it peeking out just a little in some spots, but it is subtle.

I finished with MMS furniture wax.

I also painted the hardware.  That is milk paint, and I did not use the bonding agent.  So, as you can see, milk paint will stick to metal.  Not always!  But in this case it did.  All I did to prep the hardware was wash it with dish soap and a toothbrush.  Not only did this dresser have all of its drawer pulls, but it even had all of the keyhole escutcheons.  That is extremely rare with most of the stuff I work with (in other words, lower priced pieces, lol).

I staged this guy with some lovely hydrangea that I picked up at my local Bachmans.  I wish I could say these grew in my garden, but no.

I added some vintage wallpaper as a backdrop for my first photo shoot.

Then I thought perhaps I should try some shots with the window.

Now I have managed to provide myself with another conundrum.  With window, or without?

Both lovely.  At least I think so.  What do you think?

This lovely antique dresser is for sale for $245.  Ooops, this one is sold.