You don’t have to be a painted furniture expert!

Painted furniture is a great way to add color to your interior design. I just wrapped up painting an accent wall, in our home, in beautiful Sherwin-Williams “Still Water” (SW 6223), which compliments the existing wood work nicely . I love the Sherwin Williams paint colors. I find the “Still Water” color to be unique and felt that we needed to carry the color, into other aspects, of our main level design. I had coincidentally just purchased a rustic dresser, at a thrift store, for a steal, to refinish (reclaim) and decided that the dresser refinished, in Still Water, would be the perfect addition, to our home’s main level.

You too can dive into painted furniture, by upcycling your own thrift store dresser score. I love the Sherwin Williams paint colors variety. I opted to refinish my own dresser, in this exciting and trendy Sherwin-Williams Still Water paint! The recycled dresser’s new paint job was an furniture excellent compliment, to the Still Water paint that I used elsewhere, in my home’s main level design!

Still Water is a complex color. It is characterized as a “dark blue”, but to my eye it has hints of green. I love it because it draws you in.

Still Water color code – SW6223

Still Water Dresser refurbished in beautiful Sherwin-Williams Still Water paint!

Here are the items that you will need:

A cleaning product to remove grease, grime, finger prints etc. I like Sunnyside Phosphate Free TSP.
Nitrile disposable gloves.
Sandpaper; 220 and 360 grit.
Palm sander.
Mouse sander (optional).
Paint brush. I used a Chalk and Wax round brush no. 8
4″ high density foam roller.
Paint tray.
Tarp
Rags (lint free).
Paint
Floetrol (optional).

This is how I transformed this rustic old relic!

Passion for Upcycling before image of rustic old dresser.

This is a picture of the dresser, as it was when I rescued it from a local thrift store. As you can see, it needed some love. In spite of exterior, it was a solid mahogany piece and well worth the effort!

Sunnyside TSP using it to prepare a dresser for paint. This all purpose heavy duty cleaner that is safe for the environment aka "eco friendly". PassionForUpcycling.com

I needed to wash the dresser to remove all of the dirt, grime, oils, cobwebs, etc., in preparation, for sanding. The TSP is a great all purpose cleaner, that was perfect for this project! Please follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Palm sanding is an important step in the preparation, of most wood related projects. I have found that the palm sander, such as the Milwaukee brand, are perfect for providing a quick and light sanding to a wood surface, such as an old dresser. In this case, a light sand is all that is needed to remove the surface gloss, imperfections and provide a surface, for paint to adhere to.

Follow sanding by removing the sanding residue/dust, with an air compressor or vent side of shop vac or damp cloth.

Identify any surface flaws, fill with wood filler and lightly sand after drying.

Rustic dresser after palm sanding, air compressor blow off and wipe down with a damp rag. The dresser is already looking awesome! You can now see the character of the wood, particularly the nice wood grain. The light sanding step was very important and took very little effort, with the sweet Milwaukee palm sander that I used.

The rustic dresser, after palm sanding, air compressor blow off and wipe down with a damp rag. The reclaimed dresser is already looking awesome! The light sanding step was very important and took very little effort, with the sweet Milwaukee palm sander that I used. The wood surface is now ready to accept paint.

You too can dive into painted furniture, by upcycling your own thrift store dresser score. I love the Sherwin Williams paint colors variety. I opted to refinish my own dresser, in this exciting and trendy Sherwin-Williams Still Water paint! The recycled dresser's new paint job was an excellent compliment, to the Still Water paint that I used elsewhere, in my home's main level design!

This is the paint (SW6223) that I had left over from my accent wall paint project. Fortunately, I had a lot left over, saving me another trip to the Sherwin Williams store.

I love the Sherwin Williams paint colors variety. I opted to refinish my own dresser, in this exciting and trendy Sherwin-Williams Still Water paint! As good as the Sherwin Williams paint is, it does dry fast! I used Floetrol, which gives you more working time. No one likes to to be rushed, especially when applying paint to a rustic piece of furniture.

I opted to refinish my own dresser, in this exciting and trendy Sherwin-Williams Still Water paint! As good as the Sherwin Williams paint is, it does dry fast! In general, I find that matt finishes dry fairly quick. I added Floetrol, to the paint, which gives you more working time. No one likes to to be rushed, especially when applying paint to a rustic piece of furniture.

The rustic dresser, after palm sanding, air compressor blow off, wipe down with a damp rag, with paint and no hardware. The reclaimed dresser is looking sharp, even with no hardware! I am very happy with the way this project is coming together. I can't wait to install the new hardware, giving it the final bling!

For the detail areas, I found that a “Chalk and Wax” round brush (No.8) worked great, while a 4″ high density foam roller, was the way to go, for the larger flat surfaces ! I found that the Still Water paint covered well, requiring only two light coats.

and no hardware. The reclaimed dresser is looking sharp, even with no hardware! I am very happy with the way this project is coming together. I can’t wait to install the new hardware, giving it the final bling!

Painted furniture is in! You too can upcycle your thrift store dresser score, by refinishing it in this exciting and trendy Sherwin Williams Still Water paint! The recycled dresser’s new paint job was an excellent compliment, to the Still Water paint that I used elsewhere, in my home’s main level design! The hardware that I added compliments Still Water’s finish, giving a contemporary flair, to an old piece!

Always wear the appropriate safety equipment!