Yep, I’ve got the blues. The vintage blues!
I have become a big fan of rich, saturated blue hues like Miss Mustard Seed’s Artissimo, Flow Blue and French Enamel. And I used all three of them on this dresser!
But let’s start at the beginning. A couple of weeks ago on a beautiful summer evening, Mr. Q, my sister and I hopped into the truck and took a little road trip to Somerset, Wisconsin to pick up this dresser.
It was about dusk as we headed back home and we were dodging deer right and left on the road. Luckily though, no deer were injured in the making of this blog post.
We got the dresser safely home and once I got a good look at it in the daylight, I realized it was really orange. Gack! It was definitely time for a change.
I stripped the top, sanded it down, added some Varathane Dark Walnut gel stain, and then waxed it with Cece Caldwell’s Aging Cream. This is rapidly becoming my “go-to” process for tops. I love the color of the Dark Walnut and the finish I get with wax. I’ve tried the Wipe On Poly, but I’m still a wax girl at heart. There is something very organic about the look of wax that I prefer over a harder finish.
Once that was taken care of, I painted the body of the dresser in MMS Artissimo, a very dark blue. I then used Vaseline to help make sure this undercoat showed through in some strategic spots. Next I mixed Flow Blue and French Enamel together, about 2 to 1, and painted one coat of that over the Artissimo.
These photos are looking very bright on my computer. This dresser is a rich shade of blue, but not super bright.
The hardware on this dresser was a bear. If you refer back to the ‘before’ photo, you can see that it came with mismatched wood knobs (the bottom two were painted pale pink!). Boring. I originally planned to replace them with glass knobs, but I was in a hurry and couldn’t find the right size for this piece. I purchased 3 different sets of potential knobs for this dresser and disliked all of them once I got them on. At one point, I thought these funky white key hole knobs from Hobby Lobby would work, but I only had two of them. When I went back to get two more, I bought the wrong kind. Plus, the white really stood out too much next to the blue anyway.
In the end, nnK convinced me to pull out my stash of vintage hardware to find something that worked with the cute bird knobs that I used on the top drawers. I had four matching drawer pulls that were perfect.
Now what am I going to do with the 26 knobs I purchased that I didn’t use? Oh, I’m sure they’ll find a home eventually.
Before we go any further, have you noticed anything in my photos so far? Like my amazing vintage blue and white toy truck?
I picked it up at my favorite occasional sale, which happens to be my own sale. Ha! No really, that’s only because I get first dibs on everything that my sale co-host brings to the sale, and that included this super darling toy truck this year. I snatched that up before it was half way out of the box.
Mr. Q brought this dresser, along with a few other pieces up to Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater where it is for sale. If you are local, be sure to stop up there if you’re interested in purchasing it! They are open all weekend!
q is for quandie 
I’m starting to love the wood top as a contrast to the painted body – it really gives the eye something to grab on to. The touch of whimsey with the bird pulls is just the right amount. Perfect, as usual!
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Thanks Kim. I like the warmth of a wood top.
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Beautiful! Love the color, love the truck.
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Isn’t that truck fab! It’s a keeper for sure.
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I love a good stripper…….I mean a good stripped top…..or rather I love the WOOD STRIPPED TOP! It looks so gorgeous with the blues…great job!! Still slightly hating you because of your CL selection but loving your inspiration so it balances out…HA!
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Gotta love a good stripper😉
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These pieces with the natural wood tops are my favorites. And this one is particularly sweet, with the blues and the birds. I guess this is the “bluebird” dresser!
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Dang! I totally should have called it that😊
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Linda I have serious truck envy issues today. And furniture find envy issues. As usual, you produced a beautiful painted dresser and all the details are perfect. Happy 4th!
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Thanks Laura! Happy 4th to you too 😊
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Stillwater and Somerset? I’m a brand new subscriber and curious as to where you’re located? I grew up in the Hastings / Afton area and the St. Croix River and Stillwater was my old stomping grounds! Haven’t been back to MN in many years, but will definitely check out your shop on my next visit. And the dresser is lovely, by the way! Happy Fourth of July to you.
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Welcome Cynthia! I am in Oakdale, MN, just west on hway 36 from Stillwater and just inside the 694 loop. Coming up soon I’ll be taking part in the grand opening of a shop in Hastings! I’m headed there on Tuesday to check out the space and the town. Any recommendations for shopping or lunch?
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Downtown Hastings is super cute — what you’d expect in an old rivertown. Our wedding reception was held upstairs in the Levy Café, which had amazing food in it’s day; not sure about now?The Legion has a nice deck, but not sure about the food. I worked for Doherty, Rumble and Butler, pre-kids and pre-moves — we probably know a lot of the same people — Good luck on your venture in Hastings! My mother and two sisters still live there, so i’ll send them your way — shoot, I probably even know the shop owner! haha
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The shop is Eye Candy ReFind, owned by Lacy Vreeland. Grand opening will be first weekend in August. Tell your family to pencil it in! I’ll post more details as it gets closer!
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Love your dresser, love love the truck and love those top handles.
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I’d had those bird knobs lying around for a while. I was glad to finally find just the right piece for them! Thanks Jackie!
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So sweet Linda – I’ve been waiting to see how you would paint this piece. I, too, am loving the stained top nice touch. My daughter is up from Charleston visiting and we are going to check out a piece tomorrow for her. I think MMS tricycle if we buy it.
Happy 4th!!!
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I love how this turned out Linda and the blues are gorgeous! I have done the same thing with knobs, but you have to get them right to feel finished!
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