Sunday, December 16, 2012

Stunning Pewter Mid Century Gothic Dresser

This might be my favorite dresser make over yet. I briefly considered refunding my client and keeping it. :)
Gothic Pewter Dresser Mid Century

When I saw this dresser, I knew I had to transform it. It has the coolest architectural  lines! I am constantly on the lookout for unusual pieces with interesting details. Many of my aquisitions I list on Etsy in their original state noting they are to be customized. That's the great thing about Etsy. Artist love to do custom commissions for their clients. I like to ponder how I want to transform the piece, so prelisting it gives me plenty of time for that. My vision for this piece was either gloss white with gold accents or gloss black with silver or gold accents. But at last it sold, and when the new owner contacted me she was thinking pewter like a bookcase I had finished some time ago. She had a cool silver mirror and she sent photos.

It looked to be silver leafed to me with a heavy black glaze. So we decided to do the pewter as the main body color and silver leaf all the accent trim and add a black glaze. As always, photos do not do this piece justice. It is stunning! So this is the piece before.
Gothic Dresser Before
The process for this piece is similar to all pieces I transform. I scuff sanded the entire piece and wiped it down. I used a charcoal tinted primer and base coat.


It's a little creepy looking at this point. Don't worry, it get's worse. :) The previous bookcase had bits off red rubbed through so I randomly added some red splotches here and there.

Doesn't it look beautiful now? NOT!
Next, I applied leafing adhesive to all the ornate accents and after that dried about an hour, I started the silver. Here's another piece I silver leafed showing a bit more detail if needed. Silver leafed Chest of Drawers

Next I added a little beeswax to the red areas to aid in the distressing. Then I custom mixed my metallic pewter tint. It's a blend of a dark charcoal color and a warm silver. I coated the top, sides and flat parts of the drawers in this color. I used two coats. After that dried overnight, I used a sanding block to rub off some of the silver showing hints of red.


We used a black oil wash to tone down and darken the piece and to unify the colors.

I used oil because it seems to tone the leafing better than latex or acrylic glazes.
And we are still not done. The final step as always is a polyurethane or varnish. I used an oil satin varnish since we used an oil glaze. This last step really made the piece glow!


So if you've got a ugly, dated bedroom set that you've considered replacing, you should reconsider. Think green and upcycle it to an updated finish. Those old sets transform beautifully and they certainly don't make them that way anymore!



Fluster Buster

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8 comments:

  1. Love what you did with this piece!

    I found you through Thirsty World Designs North Carolina Bloggers link up! We're in Monroe! :)

    Just wanted to stop by and say, "Hi"!

    I look forward to getting to know you!

    Christie
    http://satisfactionthroughchrist.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Christie! Glad you found me. We're in Indian Trail. We'll have to do coffee sometime! Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. This is an unbelievable piece of art, not furniture. I sincerely hope its new owner truly cherishes it.

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    1. Thanks Donna! She was thrilled! I have another ornate piece in the works now. Bronze and gold. I'll post it soon.

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  3. I have never seen a dresser in that style. It is so unique, but what you did to it is incredible! It was the perfect way to paint it!

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  4. I love all of the details and how you highlighted them. Thanks for sharing at Fluster's Creative Muster. I'm looking forward to seeing what you link up next week.

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  5. I love this too, very nicely done!

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