Bassett Dresser Renewed

I found this awesome Bassett Dresser when I was vacationing in Florida.  This one had nice lines, great hardware and I just knew it could be a beauty when completed.  Problem?… traveling with two children, a dog, and a van full of luggage.  Where to fit the dresser?  I knew I could figure it out, I really didn’t want to walk away from this one.  I had to have it!

Here is the before photo (without the hardware – oops)…

Aren’t the lines pretty on this piece?  See why I just had to have it?

Here is a sneak peek of a dresser drawer.

I wanted this piece to have lots of texture.  Since I bought it in Florida, near the ocean, I wanted to create an ocean feel with the colors.  I did this by layering paint.  I first painted a coat of Annie Sloan ‘Pure White’.  Then I grabbed what I had in my paint stash, a custom grey, cream, and duck egg blue.  I sporadically painted to create texture, I layered and layered until I got the look I was going for.

You can see the texture from layers of paint.  If I felt it wasn’t blended enough, sanding the rough edges from the paint helped to blend the colors together.

The top was painted in Annie Sloan ‘Pure White’.

There were natural scratches and dings that made it easy to distress and really show the years of wear.  This piece had so much texture, saving the texture on the top surface was a must.

On to the hardware…

The hardware/drawer pulls were a great color, but on the blue/grey it took away from the feel of the dresser.  It was calling for a silver color.  So I used Rub n’ Buff, which I used to “glam” up a mirror” and it worked great.  Originally I used silver on the hardware, but the silver was a little too shiny for what I was going for, so I toned it down by removing it in areas to show the darker color.

Here is the finished dresser.

I still thought the drawer pulls were a little too shiny, so I purchased Rub n’ Buff in Pewter and that did the trick.

Here is the finished dresser in my space that I owned at The Boneyard.  (I no longer have a space at The Boneyard and will explain that in a later post.)

I think the pewter really toned down the shininess of the hardware.  What do you think?

You might be wondering how on earth I fit this into my van?  Stuff every dresser drawer full, with clothes, toys, dog food etc.  Stow the seats (love the stow and go vans).  Use bungee cords to hold items on top of the dresser so they do not fall on children.  Stack and use every bit of extra room you have.  When there is a will… there is always a way.

Let me know if you have ever had a road trip like this?  Loaded down and not leaving without all of your purchases?

Enjoy!

Angie

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