Antique English Pine Dresser

While browsing through Craigslist a few months ago, I found an ad for an antique dresser which was a gift from the poster's mother in law and apparently huge.

I was intrigued by the lines of the piece and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I was bored and needed a project and it was only $50. I would have loved to sand it down and restore it to its natural wood color, but the wood needed to be filled on the side and I didn't think I could make it look right without painting it.

Whenever I got home, I looked up some similar Antique English Pine dressers and they were expensive! So I knew I had to do a really good job on this piece.

Here's the before:

To fix the cracked wood on the side, I used Elmer's wood filler. The kind I had was the stainable color, but I am not sure if that matters or not. You just use a little wood filler spatula (why is it's proper name escaping me?) and you apply the wood filler (which is textured kinda like a really gritty toothpaste) generously. Then you come back and lightly sand the filler so that it lies flush with the wood and is not noticeable when painted.

Isn't the purple marker lovely?

I thought the legs were darling.

I had some Aubusson Blue Chalk Paint that I was dying to use and after much internal debate (blue or white? blue or white?), I decided to just go for it. 

I painted two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Aubusson Blue and then distressed the piece just a bit. I had read before that the Aubusson Blue is really bold before you put a wax on it and that is a completely true statement. Last, I added a mixture of clear and dark wax (literally, dipped the brush in the dark wax, then in the clear wax... no measuring).

And here's what I came up with:

Please disregard the laundry room.

The cute little legs

I ended up selling this piece but was extremely pleased with the way it turned out. And better yet, it was quick and easy. If you have any questions, please let me know!