Have you ever stared at a room or a part of your living space and thought, “What can I do to make this feel better?” That may seem like a strange concept to some of you, but if you think about it, the space around you, or the atmosphere, can sometimes make you feel certain ways. If you don’t like how a space feels, often you can find ways to change the atmosphere. While adding a painted piece of furniture or painting something that is already in the space may not be the only change that is needed, I’d like to show how it can be done and hope to inspire you with an idea for how you can make changes that will add new life to your spaces!
If you are interested in transforming a room, corner, or hallway in your home, up-cycling an old, inexpensive, or free piece of furniture is a great way to bring new life to an old space. I often use piece of art and old pieces of furniture to create a vision for how an old space can become new. Today’s post will show you how to repaint some old dressers, and you will also see how the up-cycled furniture changes the atmosphere of the room.
My laundry room and junk collecting space
I forgot to take a better before picture of my laundry room for this post, but here, you can clearly see that this space does not breath life. It is cluttered and dingy, and though I don’t spend much time in this room, I walk by it whenever I come in the back door or travel to one of the other rooms in the back of the house.
A few years back, I overhauled most of the rooms of my house by repainting and finding ways to redecorate on a very low budget. The only room that I did not finish was the laundry room. The desire to complete that room has stayed in the back of my mind though; I just have not had the right inspiration, circumstance or materials to make the changes until last week.
Over the last month or two, I had been growing increasingly dissatisfied with my laundry room. One of the things that bothered me was that the two small plastic sets of drawers did not hold as much of my junk as I would have liked. Also, the room was never repainted and just didn’t have the fun colors and pleasant atmosphere that I have achieved in the rest of the house. I began to envision finding a shelf or dresser for that space that I could paint a teal color that I have scattered elsewhere throughout the house. I knew that if I found the right piece for that room, I would be inspired enough to paint the rest of the room in such a way that would add to my peace, as I experience my own home.
Last Friday, after hardly leaving my home for weeks, I decided to run some errands and go to the thrift store, which is one of my favorite places to find inspiration. Though I did not see any furniture that would work for the room, I did find this colorful bird picture that made my heart smile. I hung it in my laundry room and had committed to making the changes to that room as soon as other things fell into place. Often I watch for free or inexpensive items to become available on Facebook Marketplace.
The next day, one of my Facebook friends was giving away a free dresser. Yes! That is what I needed to give energy to making the change in that room. Because I had already planned to use paint I had available, I had determined to paint the dresser the same teal color that is left over from painting my kitchen cabinets, and while I had the painting stuff out and my painting clothes on, I’d paint the room with leftover paint I had used for one of the walls in my living room. I picked up the dresser and put it in the living room, so I could watch t.v. while I painted because I find that it make the project go faster. I can do this because my wood floors are in terrible shape, and I can clean them easily if I drip paint. If I had nice floors, I would not paint over them because even when I’m careful, I still make a terrible mess. Painting in the living room also allowed for me to clean out the laundry room to make space for the new dresser, as paint the walls in there.
When you are considering painting a piece of furniture to change the atmosphere somewhere in your home, you may consider whether you already have paint that you like available from older projects. If you don’t, consider finding out what kinds of color combinations are appealing to you by searching Pinterest or looking at magazines or watching some home improvement shows. If you are just painting furniture, you shouldn’t need that much paint. A gallon of new paint costs between $15-$40. You can also find some pre-mixed colors that are marked cheaper, or there is sometimes cheap paint available at Habitat for Humanity ReStores. No paint that says it only needs one coat ever only requires one coat of paint, even the most expensive. You can usually plan to coat your project with two or three coats of paint. Spray paint can run between $1-$7. If I’m painting handles or knobs, I will usually pick a high-gloss enamel spray paint. Spray painting should be done outside or in a well-ventilated workspace.
Once you have an idea which colors are pleasing to you, you may consider buying a full gallon of paint, rather than just enough for your project, so that you have paint available for other projects later. Sprinkling one or two of the same colors throughout your home can add to a sense of flow when you are ready to tackle more spaces. I use semi-gloss enamel to paint most furniture pieces.
As you can see the dresser that my Facebook friend was giving away is huge, I was very thankful that her two sons were willing to help put it in my van. I also had help moving it in the house. Making sure you will have help moving your piece is another consideration when acquiring new furniture.
I was really excited about how much of the stuff junking up the laundry room could by hidden by placing it in the large drawers instead of the small plastic ones I had been using -so excited that I did not really measure the space to see how the piece of furniture would fit in the room. I am sharing this part of the journey with you, so that you may avoid making the same mistake! Or like me, you may end up redecorating two rooms instead of one because you chose to “see if it will work” rather than taking the proper measurements.
To be honest, I was also planning on writing about painting furniture for this blog post, so my focus was divided by having to stop and take photos, as I’m still learning to do this writing thing. You will see in my how-to photos that I start out painting the dresser teal and spray painting the handles white, but my finished photos are a little different.
Below is the second dresser that I painted. This project became necessary because when I put my up-cycled dresser from my FB friend in the small laundry room, it took up half the room. My husband and I are usually very patient with each other. He is very tolerant of my adventures in painting things, but he also does his own laundry, and I am certain he would have not been pleased to be squeezed out of the space by my new furniture! So I had a dilemma. . . I had a lovely piece of furniture that could not go in the laundry room and could not remain in the living room. At this point my anxiety was increasing because I had also started to empty and paint the laundry room, which was creating even more clutter in my house (and very negatively affecting the atmosphere)!
The problem was solved when my son agreed to both use the giant teal dresser and would trade me the small dresser that he had been using since he was a baby. Though he didn’t care if it were painted teal, I did. I had spent time a couple years ago painting his room dark gray, and making it look nice; the teal just would not have looked right in it at all! I decided to use white semi-gloss trim paint, that I also already had, to repaint the large dresser before putting it in his room. That dresser ended up having two coats of teal paint, followed by three coats of white! And my son got his tiny dresser replaced with a really nice big one; we can only hope all his clothes find their way to it!
Below are the steps I use for repainting an old dresser. You will see how I have used these steps to up-cycle not one, but two dressers! You may also notice that I painted the second dresser outside because it was the first warm day heading toward springtime; which was good because the other dresser was still in the living room. You will also see the finished laundry room that I painted before adding the new dresser. Though inspired by the art from the thrift store, I also went to Dollar General and picked up some new carpet pieces and a couple wall hangings and knick knacks to complete the room. You may want to consider these steps and keep some of these other ideas in mind, as you are paying attention to spaces around your home or office that could benefit from a change in atmosphere.
Steps for Repainting Dressers, Cabinets or Other Small Pieces of Furniture
- Choose semi-gloss paint color to paint the piece. If you intend to change the color of hardware on your piece, you will also need to pick out a color of high gloss spray paint.
- Gather paint, drop-cloths and old newspaper, rubber gloves, a medium (3 0r 4 inch) paintbrush and a small (less than 1 inch) paintbrush, paint-can opener, paint stirrer, paper plate on which to set the paint can to catch drips (this works amazingly well!), a small container into which to pour paint, a damp cloth, extra paper towels, sand paper, and a screw driver for any handles, knobs, or other hardware. Also, consider wearing clothes that you won’t mind labeling your “painting clothes”, due to paint stains they will likely have after doing this project. If you can paint without ruining your clothes, I commend you!
- Before painting, take any hardware off the drawers and place handles and screws in a safe place. If you are planning to paint them, make sure to set them on some old newspapers or a drop cloth, and remember where you have placed the screws.
- Next lightly sand the surface of the piece of furniture to remove old stickers, shine, or to smooth rough areas. When finished, wipe off the dust with a damp rag or paper towel.
Smoothing rough spots. 
I used this same process with both dressers. 
Sanding helps the paint stick better.
- Remove drawers from the dresser and stand them on a drop cloth, so the front of the drawer is facing up. This helps to prevent drips from forming on the front of the drawer.
- Open the paint with the paint opener and stir thoroughly with the paint stirring stick, until paint is fully mixed, and the color looks even.
- Pour some paint into a small container and begin painting. I usually paint the drawers first and then the rest of the dresser. Cover the whole thing with one coat of paint, leaving about a half hour in between coats. You will be able to see streaks of old color through your paint job at this point.
- If you have dripped paint on your floor, even though you had a drop cloth, clean it up now before it dries. You will have to check again after each coat. Wipe with a dry paper towel and then a wet paper towel, followed by a different dry paper towel.
- Next if you’re going to spray the handles, start with a very light coat of paint on each handle, shaking the can first and then holding about 10 inch 6-8 inches from each handle. Let dry and repeat two or three more times until fully covered. I will usually let dry for about a half hour in between coats. I paint each coat lightly to avoid causing the paint to drip. Also, remember to wear glove when using spray paint because it is much harder to get off your hands than regular paint.
I painted these handles white, but decided to replace them with knobs later.
- By this time your first coat of paint on the dresser should be dry enough to add another coat. Paint the whole thing again and allow at least a half hour to dry. Depending on the paint you use and the color, you may only have to paint two coats over your furniture. If after a half hour, you still see streaks, then follow with another coat of paint.
After the first coat. 
After the second coat.
- Once you have finished all of your coats of paint on both the dresser and the handles or knobs, clean up the paint and let your project dry for 4 or 5 more hours before moving. This will allow your paint to harden, so it won’t be tacky and scratch off easily when you go to move it.
- You may have had to refill your small container a couple times while painting, if there is any paint remaining in your small container, it can be brushed back into the paint can before putting away the remaining paint. You can wash your container or just let the paint dry on it and use it again for painting another project. To wash the brushes, rinse under warm water in the sink, being careful not to splash paint around your sink area. I usually use a little bit of dish soap to help fully clean the brushes. You can dry the brushes with a paper towel and then place the handle in a container with the brush facing up and leave to finish drying by air.
- Before moving your dresser, attach the handles to the drawers. If you decide not to use your old handles, new handles or knobs can be ordered online or purchased at a hardware store.
- When your project is dry, you can move it to the room where it will add new life to the atmosphere.
The large dresser worked perfectly in my son’s room!
And look how this small dresser has helped transform my laundry room!
I love how my laundry room feels now. The colors I have used make me feel good both when using the room and when I peak inside, while walking past it. I hope you see how the simple up-cycle painting of a piece of furniture can spark inspiration and add something very positive to the atmosphere of the spaces in which you do life!
