RH Style Zinc Dresser

 A couple months ago I wrote about a paint technique that I happened on while messing around with some old paint, when I revamped an old silverware chest (silverware chest to art box).  I found out later that Restoration Hardware has a finish for a line of their furniture called Zinc.  I am in love with this look.

 I picked up this dresser at an estate sale in October, somewhat against my wishes, since I already have a shed full of projects to work on, but I knew what I would do with it. First, this looks like stained wood from this picture but it's not.  It had a horrible brown paint job, with thick streaks just splashed on all over it.  It also had some large gouges that my husband filled and sanded down, and then we re-glued the bottom.  

Then came the fun part (not), sanding off the horrid paint job.  One tip to ALWAYS remember when sanding - safety first.  Wear a mask or ventilator, and eye protection, because you never know what kind of paint is underneath. 

This is what I found under the brown paint. Now I know some of you would have loved this chippy look, but I really didn't know if this paint was lead, latex or what, so better to cover it up.  I put a coat of primer on, then painted a base coat of Hand Cast Pewter in the Better Homes & Garden line of Glidden paint from Walmart.  Next I dry brushed some light grey paint on here and there.  Be careful at this stage not to go too crazy, I did and had to go over some of the light grey with the base coat to tone it down.  Then I brushed on Martha Stewart Black Coffee glaze, just sweeping it on (my husband thought I was nuts with the paint brush) in smallish sections, and rubbed it back with an old cloth.  One thing I found was that it helped to use a fresh cloth every so often or else the glaze splotched up.  Last I put on two coats of Minwax Wipe on Poly.  I love this stuff, it goes on really easy, with out many fumes, and is great to use when it isn't feasible to spray on your finish, like in the winter, in our shop with the wood stove going.  The dresser was missing two knobs, one little and one big.  I really couldn't afford to replace 18 knobs, so I found 4 large ones the matched pretty well, and had my husband grind and polish all 18 down to their base metal.  The poor guys fingers are a mess - that's only one of the thousands of reasons I love him.  Well here it is all done.  Sorry, I didn't get a chance to stage it for the photo, we had to get it in to sell.  I know it isn't quite the same as Restoration Hardware's, but it is a LOT cheaper then the $2095 for theirs.

Partying With:

funky junk interiors 
pjh designs  
my 1929 charmer  
coastal charm  
savvy southern style  
beyond the picket fence  
funky junk interiors
miss mustard seed