One type of furniture that always used to intimidate me was anything that might bleed through, especially reddish stained pieces. I even thought about painting this one a dark color like Graphite, but decided to go light anyway and just trust my favorite primer. (And I’m glad I did!)
Haha… were you thinking this was a basic dresser? Surprise!
I’ve never seen a cedar chest like this, with one drawer on the bottom. The outside was definitely a little banged up.
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The inside is branded “Roos Sweetheart Cedar Chest.”
Here are the steps for this cedar chest makeover:
My husband, aka Guy in the Garage, sanded it down and then re-stained the top in Minwax English Chestnut (find it Here). He protected it with a soft matte poly. It turned out so gorgeous.
The chips on the front and sides were filled with Minwax wood filler (find it Here) and I primed it with 3-4 coats of my favorite shellac primer (find it Here) – remember it’s the red label. There was some discoloration showing through the primer, but I said a quick prayer and painted over it anyway…
I decided on Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old Ochre, and chose new pulls with a brown metallic tone from Hickory Hardware. I didn’t even have to drill new holes – isn’t it cool how these have three different sets? (Update: Here’s a link to these pulls.)
This cedar chest makeover was complete in time for my last market – we ended up propping the top open because everyone kept assuming it was a dresser.
I did distress it a little before applying the Tough Coat topcoat – and you can see there was absolutely no bleed-through at all.
Since the inside was in good shape, we left it alone.
It’s a vintage cedar chest makeover that ended up a little more modern with the new paint and pulls. Here’s a reminder of the before and after:
Don’t be afraid to paint pieces that typically might bleed through – just do the proper prep work and use a quality shellac primer (like this one) and you should have nothing to worry about. Let me know what you think in the comments below, or if you have any other good tips to add. (For a big ink spill in a drawer, I still recommend doing what I suggested in This Post.)
Have a fabulous holiday weekend, friends!
Jen
Mari says
Did you strip down the top and restain or is it a stain that you paint over existing stain. And, did you wax or put a sealer over the Annie Sloan paint. It is really lovely!!!
Do you have a link to the hardware?
Jolinda says
wow what a find and it turned out georgious. I learned the hard way about using the right primer on old pieces.
Deb Morehead says
It turned out beautiful !!!!
Jen says
My husband sanded the top down completely with an orbital sander. Then he re-stained it with the Minwax stain. I used Fusion Tough Coat poly over the Chalk Paint (there’s a link for it near the middle/end of the post). And I searched all over the internet for a link to those pulls, but can’t find them online unfortunately. I got the pulls from Menards, a local home improvement store. Hope that helps – and thank you for the compliment! 🙂
Jen says
Thank you Jolinda! I used to use a different primer before I discovered this one, and it was always frustrating seeing that pink bleed through.
Jen says
Thanks so much, Deb!
Pamela says
WOW! It looks so much nicer. Great job, love that chest.
sharon says
can you please share a link to the exact hardware you used? i would really like to find one that has different holes for odd sized drawer pulls.
thanks.
diane says
Beautiful work! Thanks for sharing.
Debra A Wise says
It’s gorgeous! Love the makeover!!
Jen says
Hi Sharon, I had to call the company to get the exact style number, but I finally have it. 🙂 It’s from the Somerset collection by Hickory Hardware. HH74673-DAC (Mine is Dark Antique Copper but there are two other finishes also.) Here’s a link to it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2jfaL19
Jen says
Hi again Mari, I had to call the company to get the exact style number, but I finally have it. 🙂 It’s from the Somerset collection by Hickory Hardware. HH74673-DAC (Mine is Dark Antique Copper but there are two other finishes also.) Here’s a link to it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2jfaL19
Mari says
Thank you!!!
limor says
Hi Jen! Beautiful work with succinct, easy-to-read useful info—Thank you!
I’m now curious to know what exactly are those strips of ????, in the background, hanging like shredded curtains.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
KathleenWebsterWalsh Walsh says
That turned out beautiful,and it is a very nice chest to begin
with!
Jen says
Thank you! The background is DIY fabric garland that I made myself. I haven’t posted a tutorial yet- should be coming in December. 🙂
Marie says
What a fabulous cedar chest style – I’ve never seen one like that before. Such a gorgeous makeover too, Jen – the new hardware is the icing on the cake! Pinned