Obsessed with Distressed!

If you haven't noticed already, I am OBSESSED with distressed and antiqued furniture. There's something about layered, chippy paint that is so delicious; I want to make every piece look old and something that has a history. This latest dresser highlights my love for this effect.

My Mom found this at HomeSense last summer and it has been sitting in her shed ever since. On the weekend I finally went and got it, knowing it would be perfect for a new painting technique I've been dying to try!

First I painted the whole dresser in a rustic red, knowing that this was going to be the colour of the paint to show through. After two coats of that went on, I then rubbed petroleum jelly over all the places I wanted the top colour to chip off of. As you can see, I went a little nuts with this step. I really wanted it to be heavily distressed, so I put the jelly along a lot of the edges, corners, and on the drawer facings.

After letting the jelly dry for about a hour, I applied two coats of the creamy white, with golden tones painted throughout. Once everything was dry (I waited overnight), I took 200 grit sandpaper and lightly sanded the entire piece. It was amazing how well the creamy white paint came off, revealing the red underneath. In some places I sanded through the red as well to show off the original dark brown of the dresser. A little antiquing wax later and this dresser was transformed from boring to truly unique! I LOVE how it turned out and can't wait to try this technique again!