This long French Provincial dresser is beautiful now.  But she started out smelly and a little beaten up.  The things you can’t see in a picture when you buy.  And when you are on a tight deadline you make it all happen.

This is the other piece to the piece I shared yesterday Part 1.

It’s a Benjamin Moore Nimbus Gray Bedroom Furniture Makeover!!

I want to share her beauty with you first and then all the details at the end so it’s all together and you get the best part first!!

All the details on How To!!

Choosing the color- We chose based on the other basics in her room- nail heads on headboard, mirrored nightstands, and bedding.  The Benjamin Moore Nimbus Gray swatch made that so easy- look at the colors it’s paired with!! Solid match!! She wanted a little pop of color with all the neutral tones and this brought out the hint of the slate blue in her duvet.

How to get Smoke smell out– first completely take the piece apart.  Air out all that you can.  I am so allergic to smoke and my asthma just can’t handle it.  So I wear a mask and gloves to clean. You really should anyways, all those years of yuck don’t need to be in your skin or lungs!! And more and more with this era of furniture I am finding it’s just covered in years of smoke.  I started with TSP and cleaned everything (drawers and inside the dresser as well as out) 3 times allowing to dry between each time.  You can see the color change with each cleaning.  I then went to a vinegar solution and finished off with a spray bleach cleaner- yes it was that bad.  I put 3 sets of dryer sheets inside of it to finish it off.  And it’s smelling good now!! No smoke.  And I only had 5 days with these pieces so I started cleaning it first!!

Prime the entire piece with Shellac Primer in white- 2 coats.  {Prime because even the best of cleaning can result in the tar seeping through at some point.}  I base painted the entire piece with Benjamin Moore Nimbus Gray mixed with the Websters Chalk Powder and then went back with the details. The details are painted out in Modern Master’s Warm Silver Metallic Paints.  Grab a boppy cushion and get comfy!! It took longer to paint out the details on this piece than cleaning, priming and base painting did!! But it’s so worth it!!

The top had been pretty abused but not scratched too badly- mostly cigarette burn marks.  And I was short on my stain and it was late being delivered so I did something a little different on the top and it turned out beautiful!! Plus I didn’t want to sand off and have all that smoke floating all over.  I mixed American Paint Company Wild Horses and Saddle to create the perfect dark espresso brown basecoat under the General Finishes Java Gel- this would help me not have to put too many coats of the stain and allow the dark finish I wanted!! Be sure if you do this method you sand really smooth between the coat of paint and stain for minimal brush strokes.  Finished off the top with 2 coats of stain and General Finishes Top Coat.  Love!!

This piece also had 2 defects- the middle-front two feet had been lopped off into a triangle shape.  And that wasn’t pretty.  I used Bondo autofiller to layer on and reshape.  The parts that were left were holding all the weight so they just needed to be pretty.  I didn’t want to use a wood filler material because I knew that would not hold up over time.  With Bondo, it’s not going anywhere.  I would say for a first time they were perfectly imperfect and so much better than the triangle cuts.  IF you attempt this on your own… be sure you have the proper respirator and ventilation.  The guys at the body shop told me I would be fine with my heavy duty fabric mask… NOT so.  I was so loopy off the fumes I had to take a break for a long time. It’s super smelly.  Do it in small layers and smooth with a sander between layers.  I used a Dremel tool at the end to finish it off and carve out the line.  If you want to find out more information on how to use Bondo, my friend Angela of A to Z Custom Creations has great video tutorials on how to use it for veneer repair.  I watched those to learn how to mix it and had her on instant chat a lot of the way through.  Having been a dental assistant for many many years, I wanted some impression material and stone to make a cast but no time to wait for that… This did the trick though- lots of patience and sanding/sculpting.

On the metal pieces for the doors- I cleaned them up, then used a Shellac Primer in clear, & then painted over.  I did 2 coats only on the side that is facing outward that you see.  Then seal it off with a spray polyacrylic.

Hidden Drawers were painted out in Modern Masters Warm Silver for added touch of glam… and the drawers were papered on the sides to match the tall dresser!! Just a little bit of whimsy!!

All hardware was cleaned, primed, and painted by hand just like you will find here in this How to Paint your Hardware post.

This piece was waxed with Maison Blanche clear – 3 coats and buffed out to a beautiful sheen.

I just love the transformation and hope you did too!! Thanks for stopping by and feel free to share, pin, and leave a comment!!

~ Lori

Sharing over at

The Dedicated House