Welcome back to Week #3 of the One Room Challenge! This six week Challenge is sponsored by Calling It Home and designers all over the country and jumping in to the game…so go check out all of the amazing projects!
If you missed my first posts I’ll hang out while you go check it out Week #1 & Week #2-I decided to tackle my Family Room to transform into a Cheery Farmhouse style that is comfy but also durable enough to hold up to my brood of five plus Labradoodle Jasper.
This is my third ORC but I wanted to do something special for y’all during this round, so for each week I created a special freebie (or two) to go along with the theme of the week.
Week #1
-I created two freebie “Shop This Room” Guides for both of my Mood Boards, get them both HERE
-I also introduced you to my brand spankin’ new One Room Challenge Pinterest Board
Week #2
-I tackled my sofa and pillow choices for my Family Room & along with it two new freebies, get them both HERE:
-Ultimate Guide: Killer Pillow Combos
-Ultimate Guide: How to Style the Perfect Sofa
Week #3 (today)
Today I’m going to share my DIY Target Dresser Makeover with you! (NOTE: I shared the FULL makeover of this piece a few weeks ago with my readers, knowing I was going to do it as part of this One Room Challenge makeover, but here is my updated version below).
But before I jump into the tutorial, I learned some painting lessons the hard way.
So, I create two BRAND NEW (AND FREE!) Guides just for you guys!
Get them both (and access to my ENTIRE Freebie Library HERE!)
Postbox Painting Guide: Part I
I broke down four common types of paint (Latex, Oil, Chalk, and Milk), how to use them, and where (NOTE: I have never used Milk Paint personally, but have used the other three copious times!)
Postbox Painting Guide: Part II
How to paint over four different types of surfaces, the best paint to use on them, and which tools to use. Find out the best ways to paint over varnished surfaces, oil based paint, laminate, plastic, and more.
So check ’em out, use ’em, and now put them to work!
My Media Console Tutorial
Our old house had just one Family Room, but when we moved into this house, it had TWO Family Rooms so we literally had no furniture to put into it. My in-laws graciously donated some hand-me downs to fill up the space (you know, so we would like have a place to sit!). But after four years I was finally ready to find something that was more our style.
So I started the crazy process of trying to find a new piece of furniture that matched my style AND my budget. Afters hours upon hours of scouring Pinterest, I was no closer to finding something. Then I started thinking outside the box, looking for “buffets” and “dressers”. I saw this dresser from Land of Nod and was in love. It is so fun yet neutral, grown-up yet playful. However I wasn’t ready to drop $1300 for it, and it was too tall for a media cabinet. But now I had my inspiration! So I went on a hunt. I figured I could replicate a similar look for a lot less. In fact I spent a total of just $288 for my knock-off version.
Here is my tutorial for updating a piece of furniture:
DIY “Radiant” Painted Furniture Tutorial
This is the piece I found to start off: the Target Threshold Millsboro Dresser The original price is $349.99 but I got it on sale for $266 (and I’ve seen it on sale for even less since then), plus even scored free shipping! I needed a longer, shorter piece since I was using it for a media cabinet.
So I had my piece…now what? Here is everything I used in this DIY:
Target Dresser: $266 (use any existing piece of furniture if you already own it!)
Frog Painter’s Tape: $8
White Latex Paint (free-I used what I already owned)
Varathane RustOleum Clear Polyurethane Sealer (found HERE ): $14
Exacto Knife
Small Craft Paint Brush
STEP 1: I chose to paint my drawers before assembling the dresser. Be sure to lay them out in the correct order, my drawers had to be aligned in a certain way due to the hardware. Then I pushed all six drawers together so they were touching. If you already own a piece that is assembled, I would try to tackle it intact. Just remove the hardware and start from there!
STEP 2: You want to spend a bit of time composing your layout. I found the center of the dresser and marked it with a pencil mark. Using that center point, I drew both a vertical and horizontal line across all of the drawers. These were my “guidelines” to make sure my pattern didn’t get too wonky!
STEP 3: To start the design, I created the center “diamond” out of painters tape and secured it to the middle of the dresser. As you go, be sure to firmly press down on all sides of the tape.
STEP 4: Start your pattern from the center and work your way out. To make it easy I created my stripes the same width as my painter’s tape. My tape was just under an inch wide. I will be honest…I’m more of an “eyeball it and go” type of girl! So I just approximated the width in between the stripes as I laid them out. But if you are more of a perfectionist (you know who you are!), you can use a tape measure and measure out the width of each stripe.
Everywhere that I added the painter’s tape, these stripes would end up being the wood color. Every stripe in between that was left open, I will paint over, creating the white stripes.
STEP 5: Keep working your way out in the diamond pattern. I used the vertical gap between the two columns of drawers as my visual, making sure the top and bottom of each diamond aligned.
STEP 6: Trim the ends. As you continue to lay out your tape in the diamond pattern, use a small Exacto knife to carefully (so as not to scratch the wood) cut out where the tape overlays so you have nice clean corners.
STEP 7: Go over all of your tape with a credit card to full press down all of the edges. If you have gaps, the paint could bleed under the tape.
STEP 8: For the paint, I used a white interior latex paint that I had leftover from a project. You don’t need much paint at all. If you are buying new, you can probably get away with purchasing a sample sized pot of paint. I used a small craft brush and painted over all of the exposed wood. It is better to do a couple of light layers instead of doing one thick layer.
STEP #9: After the first layer dried, I painted on a second coat. At this point (because of my melamine surface), the white paint coat wasn’t perfect as you can see in the photo. So instead of trying to go for perfect white stripes, I decided to embrace the rustic, “distressed” look 🙂 And here is my beautiful diamond shape pattern! On this photo, it shows what the dresser looks like after both one and two coats of paint:
STEP #10: After the paint is fully dried, it is time to peel off the painter’s tape…slowly!
At this point, if you are painting a real wood piece, you are done! But because of my shiny surface, my paint needed an extra layer of protection (the paint can be scratched off). I used a 3″ paintbrush and added two coats of clear polyureathane sealer. I let each coat dry in between. I used the “gloss” version so it has a slight sheen to it. But you could also purchase the “matte” version if you didn’t want a shiny finish.
STEP #11: I put together the rest of the dresser (with help from the hubby!) and installed my gold hardware. This is the hardware that came with my dresser (which is a pretty great match to the Land of Nod version), but feel free to change it out with whatever suits your style. Here it is completed:
The whole process took about six hours (not including assembling the dresser) and cost me $288. That is a price I can live with…and have money leftover for some really cute throw pillows for this room!
So what’s going on next week?
For Week #4 of the One Room Challenge Family Room Makeover it’s all about my kid’s area. If you’re like me and don’t have a dedicated playroom space, I’m going to show you how to use a corner of your room and turn it into a multi-function piece of heaven!
And I’m starting with this table.
Don’t want to miss out? Get all of this design goodness sent right to your inbox (P.S. You’ll also receive a reader’s only discount on my products!). Grab it all right HERE!
Lizzie Ravn says
Love the dresser – such a great way to make a graphic statement. It’s all looking really good already!
PostboxDesigns says
Thanks so much! It was a fun project to work on (now that it is finally done) 🙂
Denise says
Looking great, very clever ideas.
PostboxDesigns says
Thanks Denise! Thanks goodness for ORC motivation!
lauren | love lola says
how amazing is this makeover! love it so much!
PostboxDesigns says
Thanks Lauren! Loving your boho room too-that gold table is swoon-worthy! 🙂
Janna says
Looks awesome! Thanks for stopping by too!! I’ll be back next week 🙂
PostboxDesigns says
Thanks so much! I love ORC time, so much inspiration! 🙂
Jessica says
This is IMPRESSIVE!!!! You’ve got the skills, girl!! Can’t wait to see the finished room … love the cheery element 😍😄
PostboxDesigns says
Thanks so much! A lot of painters tape and Season 6 of the Gilmore Girls while painting it up…. 🙂