How to Transform a Thrift Store Find into an Exquisite French Country Style Lingerie Chest
Thrift Store Find Transformed Into a French Country Style Lingerie Chest
by Kim Hansen, Co-Founder and Artist, JK Hansen Studios
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THE FIND
My favorite places to shop for old vintage or antique furniture is thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales and local online groups. You never know what treasures you might find – and who doesn’t love a great bargain! As the saying goes ‘another man’s junk is another man’s treasure.’
Take for example this vintage tall chest of drawers. It looked like the previous owner attempted to update it by staining the outside and adding newer wood drawer knobs.
The overall dresser was sturdy and had working drawers that opened and closed easily. With a little elbow grease and imagination I knew I could turn it into a beautiful lingerie chest. So I purchased it.
Now that I had the dresser home–how should I transform it? What color should I paint it–pinks–blues–greens? After staring at the piece for a few days a vision came to me. I know! I’ll transform this ugly dresser into an elegant French Country Style Lingerie Chest.
PRODUCTS
Base Coat and Highlights
I chose Dixie Belle’s Muscadine Wine Chalk Mineral Paint for the base coat, and Folk Art’s Salmon Coral Chalk and Rust-Oleum’s Linen White Chalked Paint for the highlights.
Details
I would enhance the details and etched grooves of the dresser with Liquid Leaf Gold, Modern Master’s Champagne Metallic, Modern Master’s Green Apple Metallic, Dixie Belle’s Pacific Moonshine Metallic, and Dixie Belle’s Bronze Patina.
Furniture Transfer and Stencils
I chose re•design with Prima’s furniture transfer ‘La Vie Est Une Fleur’ for the front of the drawers and a French stencil to be hand painted inside the top drawer.
PREPPING THE DRESSER FOR TRANSFORMATION
I removed the hardware then cleaned the piece inside and out with soap and water. I used 100 Medium sandpaper and lightly hand sanded the exterior and drawer edges then wiped the entire piece down once again with a soft damp cloth.
TIME TO PAINT
Base Coat
I applied two coats of Dixie Belle’s Muscadine Wine Chalk Mineral Paint with a Dixie Belle 2″ paint brush being careful not to cover the entire dresser. I like to allow the original wood to show through. I think it gives the furniture piece more dimension and shadowing.
Highlights
After the base coat was dry I used a 2″ paint brush to apply a very light coat of Salmon Coral and Linen White chalk paints to the center of each drawer and to the sides of the dresser, then quickly and gently went back over the highlights with a damp cloth to blend in the paint colors.
FURNITURE TRANSFERS
After the paint was completely dry I applied re-Design with Prima’s ‘La Vie Est Une Fleur’ transfer to the front of each drawer. I decided to age the edges of the drawers also. So I applied Dixie Belle’s Bronze Patina with a 1″ wet paint brush.
DETAILS
Using a 1″ paint brush I enhanced the trim and etched grooves on the dresser by applying Liquid Leaf Gold, Modern Master’s Champagne Metallic, Modern Master’s Green Apple Metallic, and Dixie Belle’s Pacific Moonshine Metallic.
DRAWER PULLS
I replaced the original round wood drawer knobs with beautiful antique drawer pulls that I found on Etsy. I hand-painted each drawer pull with Dixie Belle’s Bronze Patina and Dixie Belle’s Pacific Moonshine Metallic then dabbed on a kiss of Liquid Gold Leaf.
DRAWERS
I hand painted the inside and outside of each drawer with Dixie Belle’s Muscadine Wine Chalk Mineral Paint. Inside the top drawer is a surprise French stencil hand-painted with Liquid Gold Leaf and a touch of DecoArt Metallic Lustre Wax Champagne Ice.
To add something extra special, I hand painted French brocade motif stencils on each side of the dresser using Liquid Gold Leaf and a touch of DecoArt Metallic Lustre Wax Champagne Ice.
FINAL STEP
The entire piece, including the inside and outside of each drawer, was sealed with two coats of Rust-Oleum Clear Chalked Ultra Matte Paint.
DONE!
My background as an Interior Decorator and thirty years of experience as a commissioned artist, muralist, and faux painter continue to help me envision, create, repurpose, and transform long forgotten furniture pieces into one-of-a-kind artwork.
I hope I have inspired you for your next DIY project!
If you have a question, please feel free to contact me, or leave a comment below. Your feedback is always appreciated.
Many of the products I used for this project can be purchased online at Dixie Belle Paint and our Amazon Shop.
Be sure to visit our Etsy shop to see what other pieces of art I have created.
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