Lane Cedar Chest Paint Makeover | Missing Veneer? Have No Fear!

This Lane cedar chest paint makeover features heavily distressed paint and I would love to hear your opinion on the makeover. Do you have a cedar chest? Just about everyone I know has at least one. I have one the JTS bought me years ago and I haven’t painted it but I have recovered the padded seat several times. The original fabric cover is still in place under the new fabrics so I haven’t made any permanent changes yet. I may paint my cedar chest one of these days if it’s okay with the hubby.

You can never go wrong with white or off-white paint right? I painted the cedar chest with my custom mix paint I used on the master bedroom furniture.

This is the Lane cedar chest before the makeover. It was a mess. The veneer was missing in several places, loose in others. This cedar chest had a bottom drawer. It was a mess too.

Lane Cedar Chest Paint Makeover

When I buy furniture and the veneer is in bad shape I usually turn that issue into a win-win by painting then heavily distressing the furniture. The rough surface makes for s great distressed paint look.

The cedar chest might have been a mess outside but the inside was in almost perfect condition. It just needed a bit of cleaning.

The bottom of the drawer was rippled and loose so I decided to do away with the drawer. I like the look of the cedar chest without the drawer anyway.

I removed the two wood drawer slides on the bottom of the chest.

Then I peeled off the loose veneer using a putty knife and removed the locking mechanism from the front of the chest.

This is a safety alert from Lane…..Since many of our cedar chest products have withstood the test of time and have been in homes for decades, there have been cases where children have climbed inside chests with old style latching mechanisms and locked themselves in, and there have been incidences of suffocation inside chests. As a result of this important and urgent safety concern, Lane has launched numerous successful programs since 1987, all concentrating on lock replacement. However, based on our best records, there are still an estimated 6 million chests owned by consumers that may require the new lock upgrade. Please click here for more information

Lane will send you a replacement lock that doesn’t automatically lock when the chest is closed. I decided to go another route.

The paint can lid above shows the formula for my special custom mix paint. If you would like to try my custom mix I would suggest getting a small sample made up first just to be sure you like the color. Your computer screen or phone may not be accurate when it comes to colors. I know mine isn’t.

I brushed on one coat of paint and that was enough since I was distressing the paint heavily anyway. No need to take more time and more paint when I’m just going to sand the heck out of the chest.

You can tell by looking at the top of the chest that it was a mess. I thing I forgot to mention price. I paid $30 for the cedar chest.

For the heavy sanding/distressing I pulled out the Ryobi power sander. You can distress furniture in no time flat with a power sander. This one is battery operated so no cord to deal with which is even better.

To add a bit of color to the raw wood and protect the finish I applied a single coat of Howard’s Wax, neutral color.

To cover the hole where I removed the lock I added a simple escutcheon. The brass was a bit too shiny but a coat of paint took care of that.

All Done! This look isn’t for everyone but it’s perfect for some! I like distressed paint and in this case it was either remove all of the veneer which could take days or work with what was there. I’ve mentioned numerous times that I’m lazy. True.

There are a lot of ways to distress paint like the baby wipe technique I used here or the wet distress technique I used here.

When I used the power sander I ran it all over the chest not just the edges and details like I normally do. With the amount of missing veneer and rough areas it just made sense to “go to town” on the distressing.

The headboard behind the cedar chest is an auction buy. The boards are split in a few places but I love the carved details . I may take the headboard apart and use the boards on a project. There is also a foot board that has the same issues as the headboard.

The wood on the lip of the lid where the paint was sanded off is really light because the veneer was missing and you are looking raw unfinished wood.

I have a short video showing how I distress furniture using a power sander . You can view it below…..

How To Sand Or Distress Painted Furniture

So……that’s the story of the beat up cedar chest. What do you guys think of the distressing? You can always be honest with me. If you don’t like the makeover you can say so just be polite in your critique. As always thanks for spending part of your day with me. I know you have other things to do, Kathy

Kathy Owen

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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