Hey readers, it’s Cindy from Reinvented Delaware! Come on this journey with me as I create this Vintage Oak Dresser Makeover for my grandson’s nursery.

Side view of dresser drawer side that was stenciled.

Material List:

Step 1: Prep

Before we dive into painting these dressers, let’s prep the furniture pieces for painting. I always recommend at the minimum cleaning the piece well. Getting the dust out will also help to get rid of some of the old smells that vintage and antique furniture can have. After vacuuming the piece, I used a solution of  White Lightning cleaner and a microfiber cloth to clean the whole piece really well. After the cleaning, I went back over the whole piece with a clean, damp microfiber cloth to remove any residue from the cleaner. The next step is to scuff sand the surfaces.

Lady scuff sanding a dressr for a makeover to paint it black.

Step 2: Applying the Butta

After it was vacuumed again to remove any dust,  I removed the drawers and cleaned them using Big Mama’s Butta in Flannel scent on all of the interior sections where the drawers belong. Big Mama’s Butta is a sealer that is a blend of Carnuba wax, hemp seed oil, coconut oil, and beeswax. It nourishes wood, seals chalk mineral paint, and smells amazing! It works wonders on natural wood too so she applied it to the entire dresser when I was finished painting including the back and underneath both dressers.

Lady applying Big Mamas Butta to dresser interior.

Step 3: Painting

Speaking of painting, I applied two coats of Dixie Belle’s Chalk Mineral Paint in black called Caviar. It’s a rich black that covered the wood perfectly in just two coats. After both coats were completely dry, we applied Big Mama’s Butta to all of the painted surfaces. We used a Chip Brush to brush it on in sections then went back over the area with a blue shop towel to remove the excess.

That’s something I wanted to mention when you are painting furniture with black paint. If you seal it with a water-based top coat, it can take on a whiteish appearance.

Sealing the paint with natural products like Big Mama’s Butta is a perfect solution. The oils in the blend actually soak into the paint and into the wood. The paint and wood both just love it! And it’s a great way to get a true black.

Lady applying Big Mamas Butta to painted black dresser.

While the paint was drying, we decided to add a stenciled design to the sides of the drawers for a little added surprise each time the drawers are opened. Trippy Blocks Stencil is such a cute design for littles but I also think it looks like a diamond plate.

Lady stenciling the sides of drawers on a dresser.

Painting the frame of a dresser is a great idea for those that love the wood look and the painted look. The painted framing actually helps the wood grain to stand out even more than it did before it was painted, don’t you think?

Up close of wood grain on the dresser
To learn more about this nursery Vintage Oak Dresser Makeover head over to Reinvented Delaware.
Vintage dresser that was painted black using Dixie Belle Paint.
I would love to know your thoughts on this pair of dressers. Do you like the two-tone look of the wood grain with painted areas too?’
 Vintage Oak Dresser Makeover

About the Author

Dixie Belle Paint Company

Dixie Belle Paint Company provides a line of chalk mineral paint that is high quality, easy to use, and most importantly priced so every DIYer can create and discover the joy of painting.

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