Chalk Painted Dresser with a Twist

This isn’t your typical chalk painted dresser. It’s a post about a chalked painted dresser with a twist. I am going to show you how I transformed a dresser with good bones and some scrap pieces of a wine rack into a stunning serving piece.

Sometimes you find a dresser with great bones, but the drawers may be a bit busted up.

One too many kids slamming the drawers, or someone didn’t properly wrap the dresser on moving day and the drawers crashed on the ground.

You get the idea.

I forgot to take a before picture showing the busted drawers, kindly forgive my error.

Sometimes I get inspired, start hunting for pieces, and putting the pieces together and I forget to stop and take photos. We all need to be more present in the moment and enjoy the flow or creativity.

The bones of this dresser were my focus.

It is a voluptuous beauty.
From the turned legs to the drawers.

Ohhh and the top of the dresser had such a beautiful wood pattern.

Unfortunately, the two big drawers were busted.

My FAVORITE part, though, the dresser is on wheels.
I sing songs about dressers on wheels because I absolutely love dressers on wheels.

I love dressers on wheels, I love dressers on wheels.
Uh oh, there I go again.

Back to the dresser, on wheels.
It’s a big one, nice and deep, too.
Hmm, what to do, what to do.

Let’s check the warehouse for some inspiration.
Hmmm, there were parts of a wine rack.
Thankfully, I collect wine racks for situations just like this.

I measured the width and as luck would have it, they were a PERFECT fit.
Decision made, this beat up dresser with the broken drawers is going to become a dry bar, ON WHEELS!

I started by priming the wine rack and the parts dresser that were going to be chalked painted.

I attached the wine rack to the sides of the dresser with 2 x 4’s cross pieces that were notched to hold the racks for the wine bottles.

To keep them secure to hold quite a few wine bottle, the cross boards were glued with wood glue and screwed from the outside panels into the 2 x 4’s.

A piece of molding was cut and nailed to the bottom to create a finished edge.

The inside was then sprayed a dark grey for contrast.
This allows the wine bottles placed inside to be the focal point.

While the paint was drying on the interior of the dresser, I taped off the area and covered it.
The top of the dresser and top row of drawers were sanded to remove the old finish and expose the beautiful wood grain.

My plan was to have the outside of the dresser chalked painted in a soft white, but stain the remaining drawers and top.

Since the top will be used as a serving area, staining the top makes it more durable. As a dry bar or serving piece, there will be drinks poured (and most certainly spilled) as well as food served.

Once the top and drawers were sanded, I painted the exterior a soft white chalk paint from the Rust-Oleum Chalked line of paint, called Chiffon Cream.

Rust-Oleum Chalked is an ultra-matte finish paint. Easy to use, excellent coverage, and a fraction of the price of the designer chalk paint lines.

It is such a dreamy creamy white.

My go-to for tabletops and pieces that will get a lot of wear is Varathane Stain & Poly all-in-one by Rust-Oleum.

It comes in both water-based or oil-based. I find the water-based is easier to work with, it is certainly easier to clean up!
On this piece, I used the oil-based version on the dry bar in Mission Oak.

The dark top with the light body is such a classic style. Look how the grain just POPS.

Let’s see that from another angle. The top row of drawers are perfect for holding a serving tray or 2, bar tools, napkins, and all the essentials for hosting a gathering.

The wheels make it easy to move around for extra serving space.
How many bottles of wine do you think this beautiful chalked painted server will hold?

I thought the original drawer pulls were just perfect as they were. They went right back on the drawers once the drawers were fully cured.

Gorgeous! I love how it turned out.
As I was getting ready for one of my favorite local markets, Antiques and Treasures in the Field, I knew this piece had to come along.

It deserved to be front and center.

Chalked Painted Dresser with a Twist

Off to a new home in record time.
It didn’t even make it back to the store.

Did you count how many wine bottles it would hold?

13 bottles per row time 3 rows, 39 bottles.
That’s quite a party waiting to be had!

I am so glad I had those parts from the wine rack.

Well, it’s time for my next project.

A biento, Juliet

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