I really should be sleeping....: Painted Chevron Dresser {Tutorial}

What's a girl to do when her hubs leaves for a week and takes one of four children AND its spring break?

Well, I painted.

A lot!

All winter this lovely thing has been sitting in my garage begging to be painted. We had a little warm weather and I had some free time, so I got busy.

My first step was to locate all my supplies. After a long winter, it took awhile. Turns out I'm not so great at cleaning brushes. I'm the wrap-and-put-it-in-the-fridge/freezer-because-I'm-going-to-use-it-again-soon type of gal. Then I run out of time and forget.

Don't do this.

Clean your brushed as soon as your project is done. This way, when you finally get some time....you won't be looking EVERYWHERE for your brushes and can't find one....cuz they are all frozen in time with paint...and you have to resort to a small roller.

Supplies:

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and Duck Egg Blue

Brush (not a roller! :)

Sanding Block

Painters Tape

Tape Measure and Pencil

New Knobs (optional)

I LOVE ASCP because there is no priming involved. You just remove knobs (if applicable), clean your piece and starting rolling.....er, I mean painting. In this case, using a roller happened to be a blessing in disguise. This dresser has a wonderful texture and rolling preserved it.

Can you see it?

After two coats of paint, I let her dry as I went inside to fix three remaining children lunch, and put one down for a nap.

Then I tried on the new knobs I had chosen.

Total sidebar....I took my girls on a little errand to Hobby Lobby to pick out knobs...what a fiasco. There were way too many choices! I couldn't make a decision and my barely three year old was "helping" (no sense of design yet). I ended up walking out NOT purchasing anything because I was so overwhelmed and stressed out with three kids in a store that has a lot of breakable items. (Remember...hubs was out of town, so I HAD to take them with me.) Went back the next day with a clear head and walked out with these wonderful 50% off glass knobs.

Measuring and taping off the chevron was the next step. First decide how fat or thin to paint them. I wanted mine more on the fatter side for two reasons. First...I think it looks better...less busy. Second....completely selfish...less taping! :)

I marked off the top and bottom points of the pattern and equally spaced them across and down the dresser. Then started taping...point to point, up. Point to point, down. Make sure you tape the outside of the stripes you want to paint, which means inside the ones you don't want to paint. (Which is why the taping looks uneven.)

I also took a razor and "cut" the tape above and below each of the drawers since I kept the pattern "framed" inside the dresser edges. (Picture is out of order, but wanted to show the tape on the drawer supports.)

Before I pulled the drawers out and started painting, I marked a tiny "X" on the spaces I was supposed to paint. Just to make sure I did the right ones. Then painted the drawers first, then the supports (see above.)

Ahhh....not bad for a day's work.

The next next is distressing a bit, so I went at it with my handy dandy block sander. I hit some spots heavily and the also gave the front and all over light sand to soften the edges of the chevron.

Finally, a coat of AS clear wax, brushed on and buffed off.

Adding the glass knobs was the finishing touch!

I'm so happy that you can still see the crackly texture.

I wish these were the colors of my house, because I love this one. Unless the hubs lets me redo the entire first floor....this won't fit in. :( Oh well, it will go up for sale as soon as the shop is finished with its remodel in a couple of weeks.