Nursery Progress: Refinished Dresser/Changing Table

I've gotten a few messages checking in on me since it's been awhile between my posts!  (It's nice to know I've been missed.  Thanks, blog friends!)  I'm here!  And I have lots of updates to catch up on.  I am just one week away from my due date and we have been busy preparing for Hudson's arrival.  In the last few weeks we've made a lot of progress in the nursery and it is almost completely finished.  I have a bunch of photos of nursery projects ready to post, so hopefully I'll be posting lots of updates from the couch in the next week (or maybe 2) while I wait for Hudson to make his appearance!

I knew the exact style that I wanted for Hudson's dresser/changing table and I wanted to refinish a piece with a painted vintage finish rather than purchase something new.  We scored this dresser for cheap on Craigslist and while it was very worn and beat up with lots of nicks and scratches, it was sturdy, solid wood, had a nice shape, and was the perfect size to fit on the wall where we wanted to put it in the nursery.  Here's the dresser before:

And after!

 

I am thrilled with how it turned out!  Hudson's daddy worked SO hard sanding, filling in the large scratches and nicks with wood filler, and painting....all jobs that I usually do when we refinish a piece of furniture.  They are far from Truman's favorite tasks, but it was a labor of love, and he did an awesome job!  I distressed the paint and added the glaze...wearing a mask, of course!

We used Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint plus primer in an eggshell finish in the color Eminence to paint the dresser and Ralph Lauren glaze in Tea Stain.  This was my first time using the Ralph Lauren glaze that I've read so much about on different blogs and I completely understood all the buzz!  It is super easy to work with.  I brushed it on with a Purdy brush in small areas, then used a damp rag to wipe it off, allowing it to stay in the cracks and crevices and leaving some aging on the edges and corners as well.  Home Depot no longer carries the Ralph Lauren glaze, but RL does still make it, so I would recommend checking with a specialty local paint shop if you are trying to find it.  In the Denver area, Guiry's carries it.  We kept the original hardware from the dresser and spray painted it with Rustoleum's Heirloom White, then I used the same RL glaze on top of the spray paint to age it and make it less shiny & new.  

I'm not going to post an actual tutorial because there are awesome ones already out there that do a fabulous job of explaining the techniques that I used.  Check out the e-book "Paint Your Furniture" from Altar'd for lots of great hints & how-to's for painting furniture.  All Things Thrifty has a great explanation of how to use the Ralph Lauren glaze that you can find here.  And feel free to e-mail me with any other specific questions!