Check that one off

What once was old, is still old. But now it has fresh new paint! 

The dresser which has been serving the kids has been through the ringer. It was given to Caleb and I when we were first married, and at the time it was pine-tree-green, which was painted over it's original white.

Caleb and I were grateful for any free furnishings which came our way, and so it stayed green until that fateful day at work. 

Caleb and I worked for my Dad making internet satellite dishes down at his shop, and in a closet somewhere we found a can of bright red automotive paint. Needless to say, the fork lift got a few racing stripes that day, which definitely helped its performance (Dad still hasn't forgiven us).

Then, the stroke of genius: Hey! This paint is free! Lets paint the dresser. We weren't planning on owning the dresser forever, so this was just an easy fix, right? When you're 20 years old and barely married and naive about just about everything you don't always think things through, ok? 

So I painted it. Right over the green over the white, all in one fell swoop with one brush which I had to throw away afterwards because I didn't have any paint thinner, or any money to buy some. And after it was done and put back in our bedroom, the smell of oil-based paint lingered for months. That was lovely. 

So now we had a very red dresser, which smelled nice after the months had passed, and so our lives went on and on until 7 years later we had moved 4 times and had three kids and still owned the dresser which was still red-over-green-over-white and I needed a project so I picked it.

Only this time, I removed the old paint first.

 With paint stripper. I had no previous experience with the stuff, but I was impressed.
Caleb bought the can of environmentally friendly, low toxic fumes stuff first, and it worked ok.

But the dresser still had some serious residue paint on it afterwards. So we broke out the can of Extra Toxic stuff, and it worked like a charm. The paint practically fell off. 

So then we sanded. And sanded. And then we sanded some more. And then, because it was either sand the dresser or fold the laundry which should be in the dresser; we sanded some more. Then a little more. 

Then get this: I did a coat of primer. Are you impressed? See, I've learned a few things. 

 Painting with three littles is an interesting activity, to say the least. We lived.

Hmmm.... I guess you can't really tell in these photos, but the final coat is a very pale tealish color. Kinda has a vintage feel, which was the idea since the dresser is bona fide vintage. 

Then I scored these adorable ceramic knobs from Anthropologie, on clearance from $12 down to $2. Yes please.  

 And now it's done. And home. And looking much more loverly than I have ever seen it. It's not perfect, but that's probably why I like it. Matches the rest of my house:)

Now I'm going to go fold the laundry that goes inside it. If you weren't impressed before, you are now.