I've been moving toward neutral colors for furniture. I know. That is so not me. I've decided it's better to add the wow color factor with the room accessories and change up the inexpensive decor when with the seasons......or my mood.
How to paint bedroom furniture gray
That brought to mind this beautiful piece my granddaughter painted several years ago. Some of you may have seen it but take another look. My granddaughter Tenley was 12 at the time. She is now 17 and will be heading to college in the Fall. Time Flies. Tenley did a great job on the chest of drawers. I think she takes after her grandmother!
Tenley painted the chest of drawers in August just before she started back to school. She selected the pretty gray color. To say we are total opposites when it comes to color choices for everything from clothing to furniture is a great big understatement.
This is the chest Tenley picked out to replace a smaller piece in her bedroom. I think we paid $100 for it at a local thrift/furniture store. The chest on chest look is one of my favorite furniture styles. Tenley has great taste.
Solid wood furniture is hard to come by these days. That’s why I prefer older pieces. Tenley cleaned the chest with Simple Green. She numbered the back of the drawers so we could put them back in the same spot.
You would not believe what a time saver this is. On some pieces the drawers only fit correctly in one slot. It may not be important to number the drawers depending on the piece. You make the call.
She removed all of the original hardware. Never paint furniture with the hardware in place even if you aren't changing it out.
We wanted to replace the pulls with knobs so we filled one screw hole on each side of the drawer. We opted to fill the inner holes and use the outer ones for the new knobs. I always place painters tape over the screw holes on the back of the drawer fronts to keep paint or wood filler from leaking into the drawer.
Tenley and I filled the holes with wood putty and sanded the filler smooth when dry. I have a complete tutorial on replacing furniture hardware here....How To Replace Furniture Hardware.
In case I didn't explain the hardware screw hole story well you can see what I mean in the photo above. Now there is only one screw hole on each side of the drawer and we can use drawer knobs instead of drawer pulls. Ready for paint.
We used Glidden Gripper primer tinted gray for the base coat. I was afraid the red tone of the original finish would bleed through the paint. Sometimes it even bleeds through the primer but not this time. Yea!
Updated: There is a new name for Glidden Gripper. It is now PPG Gripper and you can buy it at Home Depot.
We got a late start on the project because of the Summer heat. Tenley was anxious the chest of drawers finished before school started back so we just bit the bullet and did it. I guided her through the makeover but she did the majority of the work.
Priming Furniture Before Painting
She did a great job too. The primer goes on really smooth and is a nice solid color base for the top coat.
We applied the primer one day and the latex paint the next day. The paint color she selected was a soft gray. It was just a little lighter than the primer. One coat of paint was all that was needed. By the time the project was finished Tenley was almost a pro.
Tenley picked out the pretty knobs at Hobby Lobby (50% off). I admit to being a little skeptical about her choice. I of course was pushing for something bold. But it's her project and her furniture and I let her pick out everything. As you can see she made a great choice. The chest of drawers is very classy looking.
I mentioned how it's easy to decorate around furniture painted in neutral colors. Tenley's main bedroom accent color is purple. Gray and purple look awesome together. Other accents colors for gray are coral, navy, red, pink, yellow, fuchsia, orange......just about any color.
How to paint a chest of drawers gray for your bedroom
What do you think? My girl did a good job didn't she.....
Paint Bedroom Furniture Gray
Do you want to try your hand at painting furniture but you are afraid? No Worries! I wrote a post just for you. click here.......Painting Furniture Guide 101 For Beginners.
As always thanks for being here, Kathy
Lisa
Tenley did a beautiful job! I love the "glow" on some of the surface. Is this what naturally occurred when using this paint or did you put wax on the top? Just learning. Thank you!
Kathy Owen
I think it was the lighting!
Rose Lefebvre
Looks nice! And the grey can go with any other colors introduced into the room.
Cher
What color of paint did she use? I love the gray!
Catherine Klose
Super job and excellent color choice!!
Marie, The Interior Frugalista
She did a beautiful job - a stunning dresser makeover and an excellent choice for the hardware! Pinned to share 🙂
sherry
The dresser turned out beautiful, and I love the knobs! Great job!
Stacey Keeling
Kathy, this looks amazing and I love that you are passing on the knowledge. 🙂
Happy Thoughts of Home friend.
Dianne
She did an amazing job! Love the finished dresser.
xo Dianne
Kim
What a great piece and nice grey too. Thanks for linking up to Merry Monday! Sharing on G+! Have a great week!
Kim
Lisa J. Donath
Cathy on one of your other painting projects, you added a bonding agent to your paint for durability. I've never heard of this. What exactly is a bonding agent and which one did you use.
Thank You,
Lisa J. Donath
Marcia Banach
Wow, she did a great job! I see an assistant in your future...
jane w
just perfect! thanks for sharing!
Rita
Tenley did a super job. Grandma taught her well.. I like this gray color most of the gray I see is too dark, this isn't.
Tami @ Curb Alert
Kathy, she did a great job! ?
Debbie Manno
WOW! What a show stopper of a piece! Starting them young I see Kathy:)
Gracie Redfield
She did a fantastic job, painting the dresser! Talent runs in your family!
Beth
I love this! So sweet.
Judy
Beautiful......she did a great job!
Shelley
well done
Sandi
The chest on chest looks awesome. Lovely color. Nice job Tenley.
Christopher
Beautiful! Looks like you have a protege!
[email protected]
Great furniture and great colour choice. Tenley has talent and a talented grandmother.
Joy
Alice
What a lovely job! Congrats!!!
Jen @ Girl in the Garage
Kathy, it is gorgeous in the soft gray and those knobs are perfect! Tenley might be your future apprentice, she's a natural!
Suzee Bain
Great job Tenley! Obviously the apple has fallen right next to the tree!
Kathy Owen
Haha! Thank you.
Jennifer
Wow! She is darling! And she did such a nice job on the dresser! She is way ahead of her age on DIY savvy! 🙂
Kathy Owen
Thank you Jennifer. She loves to get creative!
June
It's awesome, she did a great job!
Laura
Great job! What color paint did you use? I really like it.
Rhea Kraszewski
Beautiful! I love the style, color and the knobs! Just a question, I followed your directions and painted a piece of laminate. It's done and looks great but anytime I put something on it when I lift off the item it sounds like it has stuck though it hasn't. It was painted well over a month ago. Is it still curing? Should I put some kind of other finish on it? It's a small sofa table and I want to put candle sticks on it but I'm afraid they will pull off the paint at some point. Thanks in advance. Rhea
Kathy Owen
I'll email you Rhea and maybe we can figure it out!
Dorothy
Tenley did such a good job. She is also very pretty. It's great that she is taking an interest in such things. Please tell her "great job" for me.
BJ
One of my favorite colors! Great job!