"Harley" The Harlequin Painted Dresser

"Harley" The Harlequin Pattern Painted Dresser

It occurred to me that I have been painting "boy themed" dressers and have been leaving anything for a sweet little girl completely out! I picked this gem up at a local antique/thrift market and buyers remorse set in as soon as we got home and unloaded it. It was a mess! The drawers needed repairing, wood filler was a MUST in a few areas and it was generally just...yucky. I even thought about just selling it and trying to make my money back for it!

 I am SO glad I didn't! I started out making the repairs without really knowing what direction I wanted to go in. Initially I thought about stripping that bulletproof white lacquer finish and staining it...but my heart wasn't in it. Then I thought about creating a faux wood grain look, like my lovely painting friend Karen Berg at Redoux Interiors. Her easy to follow tutorial can be found here...

BUT, this wasn't going to work either because it involved going out to find some of the glazes or ordering them online. With my day job being what it is and my schedule being pretty full most days, I didn't want to wait. So, I continued to ponder...and ponder...then got mad. I almost quit on it again.

It wasn't til I had made the repairs and took stock of my paint supplies that it came to me. (I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paints in Old White, Scandinavian Pink and Graphite in case you were wondering!) I wanted a pattern on top, but didn't want to deal with a stencil. I had seen diamond patterns on all kinds of furniture recently and figured I would go for it. I found a great tutorial online and thought "too easy!"

...pssshh. Come on, Claud....you jinxed yourself. (-.-)

It was HARD! I measured once, twice, ten times! I traced, then traced again! Then scrapped that design! Too small. Diamonds are too fat. This side looks off. That's not centered...aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

Then I found THE tutorial. Stacey at Rendition Road posted this tutorial and it contained the simplest instructions! It still took me forever, but that's because I have O.C.D tendencies and tend to overcomplicate think things through very carefully.

Finally painting in the harlequin pattern after MANY attempts at getting it right!

One awesome tip to share: Paint over the painters tape (I totally recommend Frog Tape!) with the base color you are using. IF there is any bleed through, it will match your basecoat and the top color will be JUST your taped off pattern!

Frog Tape with my base color (White) painted over

My pattern over the white in the color combo I wanted!

I loved it once it was painted and done, but for some reason the colors struck me as too hard, you know? So, I quickly white-washed over the entire thing with some diluted white paint and a quick wipe off with an old rag. Too easy! That time, it really was! 

Now its a sweet and soft palette of grey's, pink's and white. L-O-V-E!

After adding a light whitewash in white paint diluted with water

The next step was painting the pulls white and dry brushing them in grey and finally spraying them with a protective sealer! The hubs wants to take credit for the dry brush in grey, so I'll let him have it. I love that it makes the details really pop for the frenchy pulls, don't you?

Finally, I used my trusty CeCe Caldwell's Clear wax and buffing brush for my drill and her glossy fab side came right on out. :)

So here are some more "after" pics. I'll be posting her for sale locally, so hopefully a little girl will get to enjoy "Harley's" makeover for a very long time! Love to all, Claudia

I linked up to: