Before and After : Layered Blue Farmhouse Style Dresser - with Tutorial

I realized I have a TON of Before and Afters ahead of me, so I will keep these next few posts a little more brief! For this layered look shabby chic or modern farmhouse style dresser, I knew that I wanted to try out blending, layering, and distressing several different colors, especially ones I hadn't used in a while! I ended up selecting Annie Sloan Chalk Paints in Olive, Country Grey, Cream, Old Ochre, and Provence. I knew that I wanted to have an overall impact of a fairly solid overall color, so Provence was the main body color.

Read on to see how we got this look!

Before and After : Vintage French Provincial Vanity Makeover

For a bonus this time, I bundled a Before & After with a Color Story : Inspiration series addition! This French Provincial vanity was a gorgeous piece in a Dixie set I picked up, and one of my clients decided to have it painted in the same custom blend of Annie Sloan Scandinavian Pink and Old White as this dresser.

We decided to leave the original vintage stain on the top and the legs of the stool, and paint the body of the vanity in that gorgeous coral/pink! This color reminds me of the soft and always en vogue peonies that are in season.

 The cane was wearing out on the stool, so we reinforced with a piece of plywood upholstered with a 2" foam pad, batting, and a chic, modern upholstery fabric the client selected. What a beautiful whimsical touch, while still classic and elegant! I love this style of vanity for its versatility as well - the top flips down and can be used as a desk surface. Perfection!

Before and After : 9 Drawer French Provincial Dresser in Scandinavian Pink Blend

This lovely lady was a great find for a client! We got a beautiful French Provincial bedroom set with the 9-drawer style dresser her daughter loved, and gave it a modern, sophisticated, yet feminine redo! For this, they selected a custom blend of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Scandinavian Pink and Old White. If you're near a retailer, try to see the colors in person! There's a great store nearby here called the Weathered Cottage, which has a book of the colors blended with Old White so you can envision the great range of colors you can achieve from any given paint. Your retailer will also likely have examples of the paints with clear vs dark wax. The colors can definitely look different in person, so I highly recommend you look for the retailer nearest you, and give them an in-person visit!

The second consideration on this great vintage piece was the handles. There was one piece of hardware missing, so the first option would have been to look for an exact replacement. However, due to the beautiful curvature of the drawer faces, the original hardware actually made it a little difficult to grasp the handles - since both the drawer faces and the handles were curved in the same direction, there was a limited amount of space in which to grasp with fingertips. So, we found these great bail-style pulls as an option that gave a great vintage color, yet modern feel, and dropped away from the drawer fronts in a manner to give more sufficient manner. Aren't they gorgeous? And super usable and accessible.

Here's the full before and after:

Simply lovely! Scandinavian pink is a gorgeous, mature pink with coral undertones. In this case, we used a matte polyurethane for a gorgeous finish.

UPDATE: This gorgeous dresser now has a sibling! Check out the corresponding vanity by clicking here!