Ombre Painted Dresser

It was so fitting that, as I was working on this project in my garage, I turned around and spied this beautiful sunset: 

 

The photo doesn't do it justice, but that was exactly the feeling I wanted to evoke with this ombre paint job.

 

Step 1: Find a piece of furniture that's long overdue for a pick-me-up. For me, it's this sad veneer-covered dresser that lives at the crux of our entryway, living room, kitchen, and dining room. Poor thing.

 

 

Step 2: Remove hardware and drawers. Clean.

 

 

Step 3: To avoid this frustration, use the best-ever Zinsser primer (no sanding required, which is good for veneer and, let's be honest, for anything. Who likes to sand, anyway?)...

 

 ...And prime with a foam roller. Make sure you're ventilated; it's oil-based.

 

Step 4: Sand primer with medium-fine sandpaper. (I think mine was 220.) Prime again. Sand again. 

Step 5: Paint base color. I did one coat over the entire piece using my main color (Persimmon Red, by Martha Stewart). I then did two more coats of this color on just the top tier, sanding between each coat. I painted about an inch or two below where I wanted the tier to end.

 

Step 6: I mixed in a little white into my roller pan (not a lot. I'd be adding more later, and I didn't want to go too light too fast.) with the main color. A rough estimate would be 2/3 regular color to 1/3 white. Using a foam roller, I did the next tier, overlapping the bottom of the first tier's paint.

 

Step 7: When the 2nd tier was dry, I mixed in some more white with what was in the roller pan (again, about 2/3 roller pan color and 1/3 white). Mix it well! You don't want random dark or light stripes going through the middle of your tiers. I then used a foam roller to paint the next tier.

 

Repeat Step 7 for as many ombre tiers as you have.

 

(Note: Because I wanted the overall effect to mimic the sunset inspiration photo above, I did not measure or do harsh divides between the tiers of color. I wanted a loose, almost cloud-like flow from one tier to the next. You could measure and tape these off if you wanted a different look.)

 

My husband, keeping me company in the garage while I worked on this, complimented, "You wouldn't even know that this is some Wal-Mart find."

 

To which I replied, "I know! That's the whole point." And it is, isn't it? Putting our own unique stamp on stuff. I love that.

 

Anyway. I did two coats of polyurethane, spray painted the knobs, and let it all dry (which, for me, is usually the hardest step).

 

 

 So, I'm interested: Are you a Yay or Nay on ombre? For my part, I couldn't love this transformation more.

 

Aww, this project was featured here and here!

 

 

{shared 36th Avenue, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, & here}