Parisian Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, there was a Queen who wanted to make everything beautiful in the land of Her Princesses' rooms:


Anyway...remember this el cheap-o dresser that my sweet S has had forever?

Dresser Before 

I'm finished!  It looks BEAUTIFUL and I LOVE it!  Better yet, she loves it!  It's perfect for her room now!  You might notice that it originally matched the toddler bed in my youngest daughter's room.  Sadly. 

I may have mentioned that my husband has barely been around the past few weeks.  He's been traveling for work and has basically come home for the weekends, given me a ton of laundry to do, and then run back out.  Plus, I've had my own traveling and laundry to do.  So I knew it was going to be a long shot when he had about 20 minutes left before heading to the airport a couple of Sundays ago to ask him to help me move the dresser downstairs.  I had already run upstairs to pull the drawers out, but they wouldn't come out.  They are screwed in somehow, and there was no 10 minute option to grab the drill and remove them. I figured he might grumble a little, but I was going to help him, so no prob, right? 

He came upstairs, got grouchy about the drawers, and started to lift the dresser.  Uh...it was kinda heavy.  Like sweat beads started popping up on his face heavy.  There he was in his slacks and dress shirt, trying to heave this heavy dresser with drawers attached (minus the 5 ounces for the knobs I already took off--give me some credit) towards the stairs.  And although I offered to help, he knew I was going to slow the process going down the stairs.  Because I'm scared of falling.  And being crushed.  Or being responsible for crushing someone else.  Plus, I'm sorta klutzy...the I-Have-To-Wait-For-Just-the-Right-Step-on-the-Escalator-No-Matter-How-Many-People-Are-Behind-Me kind of klutzy.  Therefore, basically no help for him.   Which he knew. 

I didn't want him to get all sweaty and gross before hopping on his plane (because we've all sat next to sweaty, gross guy on a plane before--it's no picnic).  So I decided to be noble and tell him he didn't have to help 'lil 'ol me.  I would figure something out.  He wanted me to wait until he got back to give him a chance to take the drawers out and lighten the thing up.  I smiled sweetly, told him we'd miss him, and sent him on his way.

Waiting until Friday was NOT an option.  When I want to do something, I want to do it YESTERDAY.  I ran through a list of options, and the best one was to bring the drop cloth inside and paint the dresser in the room with the drawers still in.  (I don't know HOW those things are attached inside.  Some crazy IKEA engineering is involved).  That meant my kids would be kicked out of their sleeping area for a couple of nights.  I inflated the air mattress for them, threw it downstairs in the living room, and bingo...I'm go for launch.  Upstairs was officially a work area.  (Plus, I was painting the hallway at the same time...it just made sense...uh...in the moment)! 

I found this post on Centsational Girl's blog and decided that this would be the perfect finish for the dresser.  Shiny and girly and pretty (since the mirrored dresser I longed for was out of the question monetarily).  http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/01/my-new-best-friend/

Ooooohhhh...sooooooooooo pretty!  But when I googled a retailer to find the paint, only 2 places in the city popped up.  And they were FAR...like 20 miles!  Yes, I've become a suburban brat and proud of it.  I didn't want to fight the urban jungle scene for a can of paint.  Not when my Lowe's is a mile down the road.  Scary paint lady and all.  No matta.  So in the time that it would have taken me to get in the car and buy the perfect paint, I sat down in front of the computer and researched some alternatives.  Because I'm lazy like that.  :)

I found it:

 

Pearl glaze, you are MY new obsession.  You're gorgeous and shiny and make everything perfectly girl-icious!  In a house where the ONLY MAN with 3 girls insists that all shared living spaces be uni-sex, you are EXACTLY what we need!  Yum!

Long story short, I painted primer on the laminate.  (Thanks again, Centsational Girl!  http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/04/go-right-ahead-and-paint-that-laminate/).  NO SANDING REQUIRED!!!  What's not to love about that?  I just used a medium sanding bar thingy between coats as suggested.  Worked like a charm!  I put a couple of coats of white semi-gloss paint on and let it cure overnight.  (Yes, there was a bit of finagling the drawers around as I painted.) The next day after another quick sanding and wiping, I put the glaze on top.  I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out, and it started looking a little thick and weirdish.  The directions state you have up to 45 minutes to work with the glaze, so right before I started to panic, I thought to get a dry paintbrush.  I dry brushed the entire dresser in no time.  And LOVED the results!  The glaze is supposed to cure for a week though.  That's a LONG TIME!  However, this was about the time that my kids started driving me bananas (due to being stuck in the house with all of the rain--which incidentally, makes it really lucky that my husband didn't have enough time to lug the dresser downstairs) and I decided to take off to visit my sister-in-law the next day and my mom the following two. 

Three days later, I arrived home and decided that 3 is as good as 7 in the world of glazes that need to cure (expert that I am--expert at impatience, that is).  I  just COULD NOT WAIT to get out the large sticker to place down the front!!!!  A sticker???...you may be asking.   But just wait!  It was an Eiffel Tower decal that I bought at Hobby Lobby a couple of months ago for S's room and never used.  But it was the PERFECT size for the dresser!  This isn't the exact decal, but it looked something like this:

I've seen decals online and in magazines for outrageous prices.  I picked this one up for $7.50!  Half price at HL.  My favorite thing about that place is that if it isn't half off on this visit, it will be on the next. 

The decal was in four pieces, and I stuck it on.  Didn't quite get it right, so I peeled it off and did it again.  And again.  And again.  It wasn't a problem though because it was THAT easy to peel off and stick again.  When the placement was just right, I grabbed my exacto-knife and sliced where the drawers were covered.  Then I pulled drawers out and closed them.  Then I did it again.  And again...thrilled to death with how the "sticker" looked. 

I wanted to find new knobs for the dresser, but nothing S and I had seen really reached out and grabbed us.  For the interim, I decided to spray paint the originals with some glossy black paint that I already had on hand.  By this time, the sun had come out again, so I spray painted in the backyard while watching the girls swim.  A much easier way to keep them occupied!  I had already had it UP TO HERE with being asked...can I help paint?  Sorry, no you can't.  Because I'm a control freak.  And this is my project.  And I'm selfish.  Plus, if it gets screwed up, I want it to be because of my mistake and not yours. 

I know that I sound like one mean momma!  But I came up with other ways to let the girls paint along with me - one big happy painting family!

S paints this old TV Tray...aka her Nail Salon Table.

Washable paints and a million pieces of paper keep "A" occupied. For 10 minutes.

I waited a day or two longer (TORTURE) before sealing everything with a couple of coats of poly.  When the knobs went back on, I stood back and MELTED.

The Before Photo...Again

After...ooh la la!

I'm in love!

The lustrous glazed fabulousness didn't quite photograph well, but it's amazing in real life

She's just happy that she can find her clothes again. 

Silly little sis wants to know why SHE didn't get a sticker on HER dresser re-do!

When the King returned from the land of work, he was quite pleased that his kingdom had not fallen apart.  He was happier still that "Take the Dresser Outside" was no longer on his "Honey-Do" list and that the queen had not emptied out the royal coffers in his absence. 

And they all lived happily ever after...at least until the Queen started another project.  Because the beds are still no-matchy.  ;)


I'm linking to these parties:
Decor Mamma
The Shabby Nest
Between Naps on the Porch
Keeping it Simple
6 Inches of Ribbon
It's So Very Cheri
Coastal Charm
Tip Junkie
The Girl Creative
Someday Crafts
Faded Charm
Blue Cricket Design
Fine Craft Guild
The Shabby Chic
Thrifty Decor Chick