Gorgeous French Provincial Dresser Transformation

If you love French Provincial dressers as much as I do, you are in the right place!

Can you believe both this black and today’s French Provincial dressers were sitting abandoned on the side of the road?  Neither could I!  

It seemed only proper to give this French style dresser a fittingly French transformation.  You can see a video of portions of this transformation here.

I prefer to paint pieces that haven’t been previously painted, since the existing paint job may not be that smooth or it may be chipping off.  But, when the universe hands you a couple free French Provincial dressers, you make exceptions!

Here are the supplies I used for this project.

Resource List

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• Dresser (found)
• White Lightning
• Dixie Mud in white
• Silk Serenity
• Silk Deep Sea
• Gemstone Mousse in Golden Gem and Garnet
• Tea Rose
• Buttercream
• Daisy
• Royal Damask stencil
• Rose Silkscreen stencil
• Script d’amour Francais Stencil
• Floral Romance transfer
• Easy Peasy spray wax

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

Silk Serenity Blue

I started this project by cleaning the piece well with White Lightning and rinsing with clean water. There were some nail holes I had to fill with Dixie Mud, and then I lightly sanded the whole piece.

Since I was going to add texture and pattern with stencils, I didn’t worry too much about creating a super smooth base.  Next, I painted 2 coats of Silk Serenity.  Isn’t this a beautiful shade of blue?

Roses Silkscreen Stencil

I started stenciling by adding a section of roses on the left side of the third drawer.  To make it look more hand painted, I applied a variety of colors with small artist brushes – tea rose, garnet, daisy, buttercream, and deep sea.

Once I pulled the stencil off, I added more paint to fill in and connect areas.

On the right side of the third drawer and along the side bottoms, I added some stencils with just the Golden Gem mousse.

Script d’amour Francais Stencil

Next, I added the French script stencil to each drawer.  I mixed it up a little, just adding whatever sections fit the drawers best.  The translation is “Love is like war, easy to start, hard to end, impossible to forget. Love conquers all.”

I painted these lines twice, first with Deep Sea and then with Golden Gem.  With the gold, I didn’t do full coverage but left some Deep Sea visible.

Royal Damask Stencil

I love this stencil so much and it’s perfect for a French look.  On this piece, I added it all over the sides.

As I moved down the side, I offset the stencil a bit so the design still lined up the same way.  If I had moved it straight down, the part that looks like a bundle of wheat would have been directly under another bundle of wheat.  I hope that makes sense!

Floral Romance Transfer

To bring a little more balance and color to the front, I added a couple sections of the Floral Romance transfer.

I just cut out the desired sections, and rubbed them onto the top drawer and bottom 2 drawers.  This Belles and Whistles brand of transfer is very easy to work with, and fits down into the crevices easily without tearing.

Then I sealed the transfers with Easy Peasy spray wax.  Transfers do have to be sealed, so I sprayed it on, and rubbed it just over the transfers with a microfiber cloth.

Wrapping Up the French Provincial Dressers

To bring everything together, I hand painted the border around each drawer and the top with the gold mousse.  Of course, the original hardware got the same gold as well.

Lastly, I painted the drawer sides with Buttercream, and added more of the Floral Romance transfer to them as well.

If you enjoyed this Frenchy makeover, please Pin!

You can check out more makeovers like this one below.