Disclosure: I upcycled my IKEA chest of drawers with chalk paint I’d bought. But I was gifted some beautiful drawer-knobs to complete my chest of drawers makeover too. Trinca-Ferro have so many lovely designs to choose from — pop along and grab some inspiration from their website.
The Easter bank holiday gave me so many opportunities to roll up my sleeves and get a little creative.
Four lovely long days, where my boy was at home to keep an eye on our tiny sons, which gave me the chance to crack on with some projects I’ve been contemplating for a while.
We made Easter bonnets and Easter salt dough decorations, to hang on a little tree.
Plus I tried my hand at flower arranging for a styling challenge.
But the thing I was most desperate to do, over the four day bank holiday, was a chest of drawers makeover.
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How Can I Make My Chest Of Drawers Look Better?
We’ve had two IKEA Hemnes tallboys for more than 15 years now and I love them — because they generously proportioned and can hold a lot of clobber — but they aren’t the most attractive pieces of furniture we own.
They’re pretty enormous, which was fine when we first bought them. Our first home was the first floor of beautiful Victorian mansion block; huge rooms, with 12ft high ceilings, warranted large pieces of furniture to fill the space.
More than a decade on and we live in a tiny cottage — with fairly low ceilings and modest room sizes — and as a result, one of these poor old chest of drawers now lives in the shed!
The other sits in my dressing area and was just looking a bit tired and — dare-I-say-it — orange boring.
Chest of Drawers Decorating Ideas
I figured it was time to give this badboy tallboy a makeover.
Pinterest is full of fabulous ideas showing things to do with an old chest of drawers. From vinyl wrap to decoupage chest of drawers don’t have to be dull and boring!
I wanted to get rid of the orangey pine finish — and dull handles — and treat it to a little up-cycling magic.
I’d seen lots of chest of drawers makeover ideas online and dresser painting ideas, so thought I’d bite the bullet and give it a new look.
A Chest of Drawers Makeover
For The Love of Upcycling
I was so pleased with it, once it had been painted.
Much fresher than it had looked in years and finally starting to look less like a mass produced piece of furniture and more like a lovely get a personality all of its own.
I’ve up-cycled furniture in the past, using Annie Sloan paint — have a look at my desk up-cycling project — and used the clear soft wax after I’d painted. This time though I left the paint in it’s raw state. I love the matt, chalky finish and didn’t want the sheen that the wax gives.
Also, rather than use the original handles, I’d decided to search for some new ones and came across a fabulous online shop, called Trinca Ferro. They have so many different styles of handle, I was totally spoilt for choice.
Here is a little selection of some of my faves.
So many different kinds, I was like a kid in a sweetshop.
Ceramic, vintage, glass, bone , acrylic — in so many lovely shapes and designs. But I eventually narrowed it down to two that I really loved and kept coming back to.
And — as very often happens, in life — I found it just too difficult to decide between them. So ended up having both. Vintage style drawer-knobs in pink and green candy colours with intricate patterns.
They look so beautiful against the grey and old white and, in retrospect, it would have looked a bit bland to just have the same kind of design.
The two different colours and styles sit so nicely together.
Caro Davies is a former art-director turned writer and content-creator, and editor behind UK lifestyle blog The Listed Home. She writes about home-related topics, from interiors and DIY to food and craft. The Listed Home has been featured in various publications, including Ideal Home, Grazia, and Homes & Antiques magazines.
Wow Caro! What a transformation! I love the grey and white together! I would have struggled to choose out of all those beautiful handles too, you made a great choice though xx
Thanks lovely!! Me too!! :) It was a bit of a gamble… I just couldn’t decide which colour I wanted to do it in, so I chose both!! Was never great at making decisions!! ;)
Oh my goodness – what a TOTAL transformation! I love how it’s clean and contemporary and cottage-y all at the same time, I’m totally inspired. I’ve heard great things about Annie Sloan chalk paint, I’ve just never had the right project to use it for yet, but watch this space because you’ve got me thinking! xx
Aaah its addictive — that’s the only thing!!! I’ve painted a fair few pieces now — we’ll end up with a house FULL of painted furniture!! ;)
This is beautiful. Love the Annie Sloan look #Homeetc
Thanks so much Rebecca — me too!! Could paint everything in it!! ;)
Gosh what a difference it makes, you would never know it was the same piece of furniture! I went on an Annie Sloan painting course at the start of the year just to see what it was all about and really loved the finish you can get. Totally agree that matt works well on this without the need for the wax and those handles are so cute! x #HomeEtc
Amazing isn’t it? Gott love IKEA!! I haven’t been on the Annie Sloan course but have used the chalkpaint with and without wax — would like to see how they do the wax themselves because I wasn’t so keen on the finish. Thanks for stopping by! x
Gorgeous Caro! The paint colours are lovely but the knobs really make it your own.
I have never seen chalk paint in Germany but people keep telling me to give it a go. I must hunt some down.
#HomeEtc
Fionnuala from http://www.threesonslater.blogspot.com
Thanks so much pet! I think that there’s something you can buy to add to make your own chalk paint! Will have to have a think and let you know — you could be the Irish/German equivalent of Annie Sloan ;) xx
WHAT a transformation you VERY clever lady. Want to paint everything I own now! Thanks for hosting with me, loving our linky :) Jess x #HomeEtc
Thanks so much lovely. Not really clever — just too poor to buy something new!!! Plus I love an excuse to get the paints out!! :) xx
Fab makeover! I love the knobs. I really need to try chalk paint – I’m so behind the times… #HomeEtc
Thanks so much Lizzie. I love the knobs too!! As with the paint, I just couldn’t decide on one colour — so ended up with two!! There’s alot to be said for being
greedyindecisive ;) xWow. I absolutely love how this looks like a completely different piece of furniture. A adore Annie Sloan paint, it’s just so simple to use. I’m lazy with prepping so it’s perfect.
Cat
HA! I’m lazy with the prepping too Cat!! ;) Chalk Paint is perfect for that isn’t it? Just slosh it on and away you go!! The experts would probably be appalled at my lack of finesse but as long as it looks nice, I don’t need a pristine finish :)
Aah, that looks so lovely! I haven’t made over any furniture in ages, it makes me want to work on a piece! Paris Grey is a perfect colour, I love it – and French Linen is another gorgeous shade. I’ve got some drawer knobs from Trinca Ferro too, they offer such a nice selection. Anthropologie knobs are always amazing as well. Can you tell I’ve got a bit of thing for hardware! x
Thanks so much :) Funnily enough my desk is in French Linen!! Love Annie Sloan chalk paint — although it does get quite addictive!! Once I finish one piece I’m looking for something else to paint!! ;)
Wow they look amazing! You really did such a great job! Did it take you long? I’d love to be brave enough to tackle my lounge furniture, but it’s mahogany so I expect it will be difficult?! And I’d love to give my dining room table and chairs ago, but really don’t know where to start! Another reason to love this linky! Well done on your beautiful up-cycle :) x
Thanks so much Jess! DO IT!! What’s the worst that can happen? It took a weekend to do the chest of drawers — a dining room table and chairs would take a few weekends but it would be SO worth it :) There are Annie Sloan painting classes around the country to give you the basics — they might be worth thinking about if you’re unsure where to start xx