French Provincial Bedroom Furniture Makeover

Today we are learning about this French provincial dresser makeover and learning to push through doubt, all at the same time!  First, let me give you a quick rundown of how I found this piece and chose these colors. 

When St Vincent de Paul thrift store opened by me, I ran down there immediately and found this pretty piece that needed an update.  I paid $55 for it.

I had a Facebook Live on Dixie Belle’s Paint page, and for something fun I decided to challenge myself to paint with 3 randomly selected colors.  I put all the paint chips (65ish or so) into a bowl, and drew 3 on the spot.  My daughter helped me out by running down to my paint workshop, finding the paints and bringing them up to me.

During the color drawing, I was literally sweating bullets.  My biggest fear that I didn’t even realize until I was in the moment was…Florida Orange!  I didn’t know what I’d do with that color, especially in combination with other colors.  But I lucked out and got 3 pretty compatible colors – Peacock, Kudzu Green and Haint Blue.

If you want to see the 3 videos where I painted this piece, you can find the playlist here.

Here are all the products I used.

Resource List:

(Note: These are affiliate links for which I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Thanks for your support!)

• French Provincial dresser (thrifted)
• White Lightning
• Peacock
• Kudzu Green
• Haint Blue
• Drop Cloth
• Stormy Seas
• Slick Stick
• Voodoo Gel Stains – Tobacco Road, Up In Smoke, White Magic
• Black Glaze
• Satin Clear Coat
• Flat Clear Coat
• Redesign with Prima transfer Rose & Rouge (available on Amazon or Etsy)

If you want tons of information on Dixie Belle paint and products, you can check out this Comprehensive Guide post, and download it free here by clicking the picture:

French Provincial Dresser Makeover – Blending a Base Coat

I’m not gonna lie, I was making this finish up as I went along.  I started laying the colors down and blending where they came together.  I was going for balance, but not symmetry.  Water was my friend with the blending.  Once I had the front covered, that was the end of the first video.

Color Washing

The colors were pretty bold and a little disjointed, and the piece wasn’t feeling authentic to me and my style.  I was doubting myself and doubting the process.  But I pressed on, hoping I could figure out the steps to a finish I was ultimately proud of.

Using Drop Cloth, I painted a very small amount of paint at the top and sprayed quite a bit of water until it was dripping down and washing over the piece.  Using a large oval brush, I kept spreading the paint and going over the drips.  I let it dry and did the process again with Drop Cloth.  The purpose of this was to blur the colors and create a little more age through the layers.

Still doubting.  Still pressing on.  I did one more color wash (like I’d done with Drop Cloth) with Stormy Seas, a gray-blue.  And that was the step that brought this French Provincial dresser makeover together for me.  I love how this piece turned out! 

If you do something in the creative realm and you don’t regularly doubt yourself, then you probably aren’t challenging yourself.  That is when the magic happens.  

Lastly, I added bits of the Redesign with Prima Rose & Rouge floral transfer to the drawers.  I sanded them with fine sand paper to dull the colors, similar to the paint finish, and sealed with Clear Coat in flat.

Creating a Driftwood Look on the Laminate Top

The top was a very shiny laminate, so I painted it first with Slick Stick.  This primer allows paint to adhere really well to slippery surfaces.  Then I went in with Voodoo Gel Stains in both Tobacco Road and Up in Smoke to create a faux wood look.  I brushed them on, blending together as I went.  The brown was more dominant than I wanted, so I did another coat of gray, and added some White Magic as well.

Then it felt a bit too light, so I added Black Glaze.  With tops, I tend to just layer everything under the sun until I am happy with it!  I sealed it with 2 coats of Clear Coat in satin.

I re-installed the original vintage hardware because it matched the feel of the piece perfectly.

If you liked this painted French Provincial furniture project, you may enjoy these as well:

Spanish Moss Dresser

Classic and Beautiful White Floral Dresser 

Triple Dixie Dresser

As always, if you learned anything or were inspired here, Please Pin!