Old Dresser Redo - Faux Distressed Finish Tutorial

Hey there, well I just want to show you a tutorial of how I made this old worn-out dated dresser into what I think is a beautiful "new" distressed dresser for my vintage baby nursery.  The steps to take are really easy, but it will take a little time.  The first thing I did was remove the drawers.  Using my electric hand sander with about a 60-80 grit, I sanded it all down to the bare wood.  This dresser had a slick, shiny finish on it so that is why I sanded it completely to the bare wood.

BEFORE

AFTER

At this time I noticed that there were a few little boo boos on the wood that needed repairing, like wood glue and wood filler here and there.  I did this in the places needed.  I also wanted to add baskets or bins in place of the bottom two drawers so my sweet hubby cut out a piece of luan board to fit the bottom and now it is ready for painting.  I wanted to paint it a light blue/teal color and I found this beautiful color, High Noon from Lowe's.  I am using several different distressing techniques on this one so you can do as few or as many as you wish.  The first thing I did was to use the vaseline technique.  (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this, but just wipe some vaseline in different places that you will sand off later.  Usually on the corners, and other places that will look like the furniture has been worn.  These are the darker places on my after picture).

The next step is to paint the dresser and the drawers in this color.

You just paint right over the vaseline...

Next, I am using a technique I saw on youtube by BeachBumLivin.  I thought this technique was kinda neat so I wanted to try it.  First you get a dry brush and I used a dark brown paint that I had lying around and just lightly painted a few swipes on the dresser and drawers like this...

 paint swipes with brown paint...

  

Next do the same thing in a few different places with white paint.  Remember, use a dry brush and lightly swipe the brush across the wood.  It is very subtle.  If you need a better look at how to do this go to youtube and look at BeachBumLivin.  He has a few great tutorials.

Paint swipes with white paint...

My next step was to start sanding or distressing.  (You can check out the tutorials on youtube by Alchemy Fine Living).   I used a about an 80-100 grit, you might have to see what works best for you.  Just start sanding in the places you want the furniture piece to look old and worn.  If you used vaseline, then you will sand those places and really see what I mean.  It looks so good when you start sanding off the paint in the vaseline places!

The next step, should you choose to do this, is to add a little brown glaze.  I used Valspar transclucent glaze in mocha (I had this on hand, but they no longer make this color)  I'm sure you can find a dark glaze made by someone else though.  I just lightly wiped on some glaze and then wiped it off.  Just use enough to your particular taste.

This is a picture of the finished dresser that will go in my vintage baby nursery.  Oh, did I mention that I am about to be a grandma?  To twins, a boy and a girl.  That's why I have the pink and the blue bins.

I also decided to add a coat of clear polyurethane to add a little shine and I spray painted my handles and knobs a hammered silver color.

Well, happy distressing everyone.  You can't really mess this one up!