Hello, amazing friends! I’m back for Furniture Fixer Upper Day with a gorgeous black painted French provincial dresser that started out like this:

My neighbor was giving it away. She texted me about it during dinner one night, and I wasted no time going to get it right then and there! I’ll gladly let my dinner go cold to take that gorgeous piece off your hands!

I originally did this piece a couple of years ago. With Jack’s college graduation this past weekend and then an ill family member (who is now on the mend), I had to pull an oldie out to share today, but this is one of my absolute favorites!

Be sure to look for my friends’ makeovers at the bottom!

It looks pretty good here, but it did need some work.

The stained parts of this piece weren’t the best:

The body of the dresser was actually not too bad, however it was painted in what looked to be a semi gloss or gloss paint, and it was painted with a roller:

The roller leaves that lovely mottled look behind that really shows up in this glossy finish.

It was in a child’s room though, so it was nice and durable and did the job it needed to do.

I’ve included a few affiliate links so you can find the products I love.

Smooth out the Finish

A little one-on-one time with my rotary sander loaded up with some 220 grit sandpaper was all I needed to smooth everything out and get this makeover on its way:

I also enlisted the help of my smaller corner cat sander as well for the edges:

I wanted to get the surface as smooth as possible so the imperfections would not show through the new layer of paint.

Clean

After sanding, I gave everything a good vacuum with my shop vac and brush attachment to pick up all the dust…

Finally, I cleaned with White Lightning for the best prep possible:

These applicator pads work great for this and can be rinsed and reused again and again. I just toss them in the wash. Be sure to swap out your water for clean water and give everything another once over to remove any residue.

Paint

The surface was now clean and ready for paint!

For this piece, I chose Silk Mineral Paint in Anchor:

Anchor is a true, perfect black, much like Caviar  from the Chalk Mineral Paint line. I love the chalk version for its no prep, but the Silk line does require sanding first OR the use of a bonding primer like Bonding BOSS.

Since I already sanded this piece, I chose to go with the Silk!

See what else I’ve used Anchor on HERE and HERE.

Here it is after two coats:

This paint has excellent coverage, but because I was painting over white, it definitely needed that second coat:

There is more prep involved when using Silk since it does require a scuff sanding first to give your surface some grip, but the trade-off is that it has a built-in topcoat!

I like this paint for pieces that I do not plan to distress. If I plan to distress, I stick with the chalk mineral paint.

So, this piece was done! Or was it?

Adding a transfer

I decided to add a little glam with the Somewhere in France transfer:

I love gold transfers against black paint!

You can find this transfer in Etsy shop HERE.

I also used it on one of my favorite dressers ever HERE in 2020.

I laid my dresser on its back to make applying the transfer a bit easier.

Then, I cut this one apart and started applying it to the drawers with the provided burnishing tool:

**All transfers come with a similar tool, and I find it is the best option for applying transfers.

The great thing about this transfer is that you can cut them apart to make them go a bit further:

The Hardware

The final task was to paint the hardware. I took the easy way out by giving them a quick spray with Rustoleum’s Metallic Gold spray paint:

The After

Here is how this beautiful dresser turned out:

While I love a white dresser, there is no denying how elegant a simple piece of black furniture can be!

The finish of the Silk Mineral Paint is so beautiful!

Here are a few things to keep in mind about Silk Mineral Paint:

• Requires scuff sanding first OR Bonding BOSS
• Allow two hours to dry in between coats
• Smooth, silky texture
• Works well for a crisp, clean look
• Not recommended for blended finishes
• Mixing with water not recommended
• Dries to an eggshell finish
• No topcoat required
• Fully cured in 30 days
• Water, mildew, and grease resistant

See all the colors available in my shop HERE.

You can see how Silk Mineral Paint compares to traditional Chalk Mineral Paint HERE.

The Drawers

Y’all know I like to have fun with the drawers.

I usually line the insides of the drawers on my pieces with fabric, but the insides of these were in absolutely perfect condition:

So instead, I decided to add a little something extra another way!

Adding a Silkscreen stencil

I pulled out a gorgeous silkscreen stencil from the Belles and Whistles line called Roses:

Silkscreen stencils have a super fine screen in the open areas and are self-adhesive to give you the most detailed stencil results.

You can get up to ten uses out of each stencil.

How to apply a silkscreen stencil

I cut the one on top there to give me two exact pieces. Then I positioned it where I wanted it it on the outside of my drawers, starting from the lower corner.

1. After placing the stencil where you want it, use the included plastic spatula to pick up some paint. I used the Silk paint for this. (Chalk paint is not recommended as it dries too fast, but acrylic craft paint can be used also.)
2. Drag it across the surface. This pushes the paint through the screen and onto your surface.
3. Before removing the stencil, drag the longer edge of the scraper across the surface to remove any excess paint.
4. Remove the stencil and voila!

Dixie Belle has a silicone tool called a Thing-a-ma-jig that is made for applying the paint with several sized edges to use if you use silkscreen stencils a lot.

I did not rinse my stencil in between uses. I did all five drawers back to back on one side using one of the stencils, and then I switched to the other stencil just like it for the other side of all five drawers.

I put them in a tray of water as soon as I was done…

Then I used my Scrubby Soap (It’s soap with a scrubber inside!) to clean the paint off the stencil:

I usually use it for scrubbing the paint off my fingers, but it works great here too! I’ve also seen people use them to clean brushes.

Just lay the stencils tacky side up on a paper towel to dry and then stick them back onto the original backing. I should get at least a couple more uses out of these.

See all the silkscreen stencil sets in my shop HERE.

Rehydrating the Drawers

I had to sand many of the drawers on the outside to remove white paint that gotten on them from the previous makeover. This left them dried-out looking.

To rehydrate them, I applied Big Mama’s Butta using a soft cloth:

It not only hydrates and protects, but there are four fabulous scents as well as an unscented version.

I love this sweet addition to the sides of the drawers!

See what else I used this silkscreen stencil on HERE.

The addition of the stencil might be my favorite part!

Now this black painted French provincial dresser is officially complete!

My niece who lives in Tennessee ended up driving all the way here with a trailer to claim it! I’m so thrilled she ended up with it!

 

My friends all have brand new makeovers to share today!

1. A Ray of Sunlight

2. Petticoat Junktion

3. Salvaged Inspirations

4. My Repurposed Life

I hope you all have a fabulous rest of your week, and I’ll meet you back here bright and early Tuesday morning with a brand new redo of this silver plated tray:

UPDATE: This tray is fresh and new now! See it HERE!

See ya then!

XOXO,

 

 

 

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