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Behr Oops Paint Furniture Makeover

My Behr oops paint furniture makeover might be a budget job but the finished chest looks like a million bucks. I made a video to show you the simple paint technique that made this piece so special.

Behr Oops Paint Furniture Makeover

I always shop the oops paint shelf when visiting my local home improvement stores. Sometimes they have really pretty paint colors and the paint is unbelievably cheap. In case you aren’t familiar with oops paint I’ll share my definition. It could be the paint was mixed wrong or the wrong color was mixed up or maybe the shoppers who selected the paint sample just decided they didn’t like the color once it was mixed.

The oops paint is marked down and usually, the formula sticker on top of the paint can is painted over. I’ve also heard tell that some home improvement stores will add more paint tint to the paint to make it a different color than originally mixed. See. apparently, there are some people out there who will have paint mixed, say they don’t want it, then after the paint is marked down come back and buy the paint. True.

furniture Fixer Upper logo July 2020

Moving on….today is Furniture Fixer Upper Day and the girls did not disappoint. The makeovers are unbelievable. Be sure and take the tour.

chest of drawers to paint with oops paint

This chest of drawers for today’s makeover came from a local online auction. My first purchase from this company. With all the fees the chest was $33. A deal.

mdf or fake wood furniture

The chest is made of MDF or fake wood. This piece reminds me of office furniture from the 90’s, although it is obviously bedroom furniture. I have a great post on painting poofy or damaged MDF furniture here.

old furniture is dirty and needs vacuuming and cleaning

It was pretty dirty and of course the first thing to do is clean it up. I vacuumed out all the fuzz and lint then cleaned with Simple Green.

furniture prepped to paint

I removed all the original hardware. Those drawer pulls are not making another appearance. Not on this piece anyway.

drill holes in furniture drawer for new drawer knobs

I planned to replace the pulls with knobs. I drilled a new hole for the knobs.

fill drawer screw holes with wood putty

Then I filled the old screw holes with wood putty or as DAP calls it “Plastic Wood”.

sand wood putty flush with surface

Once the putty dried I sanded it flush with the drawer front using my Ryobi cordless sander. You may have to sand the putty then add more putty and sand again. The putty tends to shrink up when it dries and there will be a little indentation or pit in the screw hole.

furniture ready for paint makeover

See how nice and flush the putty is? I did a good job.

paint furniture gray with Behr oops paint

Now to tell you about this beauty’s paint and the white details.

Behr oops paint

The Behr oops paint was $2.10 for the quart. No way to pass up that deal. I’ve had the can for a while. The date on the label is July 21, 2019. Behr Premium Plus is Paint and Primer in one and the sheen is eggshell. The paint is latex or water-based.

I painted a vintage piece of furniture with this paint ….The Weathered Gray Sideboard With A Coastal Nantucket Paint Finish in January. I loved the color then and now I love it even more.

painting furniture with Behr oops paint

I applied two coats of paint to the chest of drawers and didn’t use any primer.

gray furniture with brown highlights (2)

My original plan was to brush brown paint on the drawer edges and details and use the shiny white knobs in the photo above. Well, after doing one drawer I decided that was not “the look” I wanted.

adding white paint edges of drawer

Moving on to my second plan and white paint instead of brown. I used a foam brush dipped in off-white paint to highlight the drawer edges, details on the chest body, and around the drawer knobs.

brush white paint on furniture details

You might wonder why I did this instead of distressing. You can’t distress MDF or fake wood furniture because it crumbles, and if the MDF gets wet, it poofs up. Please watch the video to see the technique in process. The video tells the story much better.

spray paint furniture hardware

The day I painted the chest, it was raining cats and dogs. I found a bunch of large wood knobs for the chest of drawers in my knob stash and spray painted the white white. I took the knobs to the carport and painted them there. The spray paint smells too strong to use inside, even in the workshop.

paint wood furniture knobs

The knobs were too white white and I used the paint from the detail work on the drawers to paint the knobs. The paint is Behr, Cotton Knot color. I had a sample pot from when I was picking out colors to paint our guest bedrooms. I never let paint go to waste.

painted furniture detail highlighted with white paint

The detail on the bottom of the chest of drawers is easy to miss. I don’t know why they didn’t put that on the top drawer. The light brush of white paint really makes the detail pop.

Behr Gray Oops Paint Furniture Makeover (3)

The white wood knobs on the two top drawers are smaller than those on the three bottom drawers. How about that scallop detail and those curvy legs?? So pretty.

IMG_2916 (3)square sharp

What do you think of the little bit of white washed or rubbed paint around the knobs? It’s a bit different but I like it.

Behr paint furniture project (3)

The overall look is soft and feminine. The chest would be pretty in a nursery for a boy or a girl. Watch the video tutorial to see me in action on this project. The tutorial shows the white detail technique better than I can explain it in writing.

How To Brush White Paint On Furniture Details

Time to take the Furniture Fixer Upper Tour. Just click the pink text links below the “before makeovers” photo collage…..

how to makeover furniture

Furniture Fixer Uppers Tour:

Music Cabinet Makeover from Confessions of a Serial DIY’er

 French Country Side Table from Girl In The Garage

 How To Paint Metal Furniture from Salvaged Inspirations

Behr Oops Paint Project from Petticoat Junktion (you are here)

Leave a note if you have time. I would love to know what you think of the gray chest of drawers. Thanks for being here, Kathy

Author: Kathy Owen
Kathy Owen is the founder of the home decor blog Petticoat Junktion where she shares tutorials on painting furniture and upcycling thrifty finds into unique home décor. Her DIY projects have been featured on the Home Depot Blog, Plaid Crafts, Behr Designer Series, and in numerous magazines. Kathy’s newest website is HappyHomeDIY.com

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10 Comments

  1. Kathy, I love the soft new look with the gray and white. This totally doesn’t look like an MDF dresser!

  2. love the oops paint you used Kathy. i’m probably not as good as you looking for it, but i do buy leftovers at Habitat Restore quite a bit!
    the legs and medallion at the bottom certainly would have caught my eye before, and you accented them nicely! Beautiful piece!

  3. You did an amazing job on that dresser! WOW!

    I learned so much reading this post, thank you!

  4. I love shopping in the OOPS section as well. I’ve found some amazing colors for $3-5! This couldn’t be prettier Kathy. And the knobs compliment it so well! XOXO Pinned!

  5. I just discovered online auctions in my area and I could not believe the prices. Of course I was out bid but if I wanted it that bad I could have kept going. You gave this pie e a great makeover

  6. This looks amazing, Kathy! The white dry brushing was the perfect choice, and I never even noticed the pretty details across the bottom with those curvy legs in its before state! XOXO

  7. I love the finished product. The chest of drawers has such an elegant look to it. You can dress a whole room’s theme around it! Another great job! I look forward to going to check out the oops paint section too!