I’ll admit it, I am cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs … or Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops. We don’t have them on hand very often, but gosh I could go for a bowl right now. But this morning, I am cuckoo for Annie Sloan’s Coco chalk paint instead.
Remember the set I just purchased last week? Well, after seeing how amazing the bed looked painted in chalk paint, I decided to go the same route on the mirrored dresser.
As a reminder, it started out looking like this …
I’ve got a secret for you. Mr. Q is back there holding up that mirror! I photo-shopped his feet out of the picture. I got him to tilt it a little bit backwards too, so I don’t have to duck out of sight in the mirror.
After some paint and new stain, the dresser now looks like this …
Gadzooks! Even I am amazed by this transformation, much like I was with the bed. Since I don’t have Mr. Q back there holding up the mirror in this shot, I did have to duck down low to get myself out of the picture. You can thank me for doing so, as it was hot and humid and my hair was a fright.
This dresser is quite gorgeous without the distraction of that weird stain job, isn’t it?
The veneered top was in very good shape except for the old finish, so I stripped it, stained it with Varathane Dark Walnut gel stain, and then waxed it. The wood is quite lovely now.
You can see that I left those odd flowers on the top drawers. I debated removing them like I did on the bed, but in the end I felt like the paint disguised them fairly well. I also left the original hardware. It was all there and it had a lovely patina, so it stayed.
I always having trouble deciding whether or not to keep the mirrors on these sorts of dressers. I did a little research and I couldn’t find a single instance where Miss Mustard kept a mirror like this, although she has done many dressers that are similar to this and must have once had mirrors. I feel like these pieces are more versatile without their mirror. Without a mirror this could be used in a dining room, a family room (with a TV on top) or it could be turned into a bathroom vanity.
Plus, it looks great without it too.
But it seemed like such a shame to discard the mirror on this one. It’s very pretty. Here’s a better shot showing the detail on the mirror.
Of course, whoever buys it will have the option of removing the mirror. But I often find that people can’t see past something that is there in front of them. Or, maybe they will feel like I do, that you can’t just discard the mirror. Hopefully this piece will find a buyer either way.
This piece went out to Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater this week. And for those of you who are local, do you know about the St. Croix River Valley Vintage Crawl taking place this weekend?
Eight vintage shops in the area (My Sister’s Cottage, Mama’s Happy, Reclaiming Beautiful, Le Garage Girls, Farmhouse Inspired, Hello the House, 3:17 Vintage Furniture & Home Decor and Eye Candy REfind) are participating in the crawl. Check out the details here!
q is for quandie 
Woohoo! She’s a looker! Someone will be very fortunate to have her as part of their home.
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Thanks Diane! Hopefully it will go to a good home soon!
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Gorgeous!!
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Thanks Nan!
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Quite lovely!
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Do people give you a hard time about the whole Silence of the Lambs thing Clarice? Or was that before your time? I just can’t help but hear “why hello Clarice” in that creepy Hannibal Lecter voice every time I read your name 😉
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Coco is one of my favourite Annie Sloan colours. With regards to mirrors, it seems most people don’t like the mirrors attached and I agree it is a shame to not use them, so I just remove it from the harp and add wire in the back of the mirror so it can be hung on a wall separately. Great transformation.
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I have done that too with mirrors that are on a harp. This one is one solid piece though. Usually that is what sways my decision. Although I did recently see a mirror like this one hung on a wall over a bathroom vanity, so I suppose it can be done. I’m a little on the fence about that look though.
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I have a can of Coco-wasn’t loving it until I saw this BEAUTY…you gave me inspiration…(again)!
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Part of the trick, I think, is the dark wax. It brings a little more depth to the color. I like the brown toned waxes, CeCe Caldwell’s Aging Cream, or in this case my secret recipe dark wax. A mix of Johnsons and Dark Brown Briwax (do not use indoors!)
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The transformation is quite stunning. I love the stained top with the color of the bottom. Just wondered if it is missing a piece of trim on the bottom drawer and if it is could your handyman replace it? My neighbor has had good luck making a mold out of the putty stuff and then creating a replica.
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Hey! You weren’t supposed to notice that! I did think about replacing the trim, but in the end I find that most people (including myself) are OK with damage like that on older furniture. It’s just part of the charm.
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From the photos, many of the details in this dresser were obscured by the dark stain. This yummy color really highlighted them to their best advantage. And what is it about a neat stencil that seals the deal?!
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That is so true Kim, that weird stain job did obscure the details. But then, I always think paint brings out details more than stain!
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What a good looking piece Linda-I love it and I too debate about the mirrors.
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Thanks Darrielle!
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This looks great. I like the wood top and mirror with the painted bottom. Maybe you could stage it without the mirror and include a picture as a pretty hang tag to show its versatility. I for one would like to have the complete dresser with the mirror but would love the option of using it without. I like to move things from room to room and repurpose as needs change.
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Since I’ve taken it to Reclaiming Beautiful to sell, I don’t have a lot of creative control over how it is displayed. It would probably get too complicated if they had to store the mirror and attachment hardware separately and pull it out for a potential customer. However, I could have done it the other way around I suppose and added a pretty hang tag with a picture of it without the mirror attached. Hmmm. I’ll have to give that some more thought.
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To be honest I wasn’t too hopeful for cocoa colored paint kinda like when I have seen a wood piece painted brown and it’s like why did they bother to go from brown to brown. I should have known you could make it fab. Love it girl and the stencil! With the mirror I could go either way on this #. In a little girl’s room maybe powder pink and cocoa I’d keep the mirror otherwise probably not. So will you be at the crawl? Sounds like a fun time please snap some photos for us far flung readers.
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I absolutely never would have purchased this color before I saw it on a gorgeous dresser. It took seeing it in person for me to see how lovely it could be. Normally I am not a fan of painting anything brown. Powder pink would be a pretty accent color with the Coco! I won’t technically be at the crawl. It ends today (Saturday), and Lacy’s grand opening event is on Sunday. But I’ll try to get some photos of Sunday’s event and share them here!
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Beautiful piece!
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Thanks Joyce, I’m glad you like it! Swing by Reclaiming Beautiful and see it in person!
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That came out really nice.
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Thanks sis.
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Love the transformation, I don’t always keep mirrors with my pieces but this one looks great with it. PS: I read ALL of your blog posts & love your redos & writing style!
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Thanks Cindy! and thanks for the comment!
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