Chest of Drawers Update

As you can tell from the photo, this piece definitely needed a good cleaning. I used Dixie Belle Paint's White Lightning cleaner and sanded it with 120 and 220 sandpaper. For the top, I sanded with 80 grit paper first to get to raw wood for staining. I then used 120 and finished with 220 for a smooth surface.

Before, I started cleaning I removed the drawers and discovered most were in pretty bad shape. I chose the best one and decided to convert the lower section into shelves.

My husband removed wood that supported 2 of the drawers and added a support piece at the back for the shelves. He also added a strip of wood in the front support to hide the raw edge of the shelving boards. I then filled in the space between the front pieces with wood filler. After it dried, I sanded it smooth and also sanded the inside of the chest.

I decided to paint the exterior and interior with Miss Mustard Seed paint in the color Typewriter.

For the shelves, I used Gray Driftwood Vintage prepackaged shiplap which I purchased at Home Depot. I love the color of the finish.

My husband measured and cut the pieces to fit. The boards are tongue and groove and fit great into the space. He them cut strips to make a frame to support the boards. The strips were glued to the frame. He then attached them to the inside supports with screws.

The shelves fit perfectly!

For the top, I wanted to match the shelves as close as possible. First, I used a gray stain. Due to the natural wood's color, the stain did not end up as gray as I had hoped. I then color washed the top using Dixie Belle Paint in Driftwood. I watered down my paint (probably 50/50) and brushed in on with a chip brush. I then immediately wiped over the surface with a lint free cloth.

Color washing did the trick! After the paint dried, I sealed the top with Minwax Wipe On Poly in satin and used Miss Mustard Seed Hemp Oil to the body of the chest.

I replaced the drawer handles to finish off this piece. What a difference!