Extra Extra! Lovely Beasts takes on the French Dresser!

It's done! It's done! I've given the most popular French dresser in blogdom a new look.


It's completely different for me, but that's my aim with furniture projects these days. Try something different and make it unique. Some of you will notice that it's MMS inspired and you've probably seen a combo of what I've done out there before but hey, it's new for me!

Here's the dresser that everyone has bought at some point and either redone, or in the process of redoing. Drenched in yellow and gold paint and unfortunately for my guy, a laminate top. Yes, I know laminate is easier to clean, but to me it takes away from the dresser's natural beauty.

And here's how it looked last week. Read here for more details on the paint colors I chose. Some of you might remember that I was keeping the redo of the top a mystery. So did any of you figure it out? Well, it's too late if you didn't because I'm showing you NOW!

TA DAAAAA! Mod Podge + New Zealand Herald newspaper from October 1895 = Fantasticamazingawesomeness! 

This was my very first Mod Podge project and it went surprisingly well. First I cut rectangular sections of the newspaper to fit on the dresser top. I purposely put some horizontal and others vertical. My plan was to use an exacto knife to cut around the newspaper after I had glued it on. With a foam brush, I applied the Mod Podge in small sections and pressed the newspaper on top. I used my old college ID to get the bubbles and wrinkles out. About 8 hours later (at this point the glue was totally dry), I used the exacto knife to cut the edges. It wasn't going that smoothly at first.

See how rough and uneven it looks? I finally developed a method of holding the knife blade at a 45 degree angle and smoothing the blade along the edges to slowly cut off the excess newspaper. It takes patience to do it, but I got in the zone and actually enjoyed it after awhile. Once the edges were flush with the edge of the dresser top, I brushed on another layer of Mod Podge over the newspaper. It was a little tacky when it dried (the Mod Podge bottle said this would happen!) and I was going to go buy sealer (also bottle recommended), but then I thought about my Wipe On Poly and thought that it might achieve the same results. Funnily enough I checked MMS sheet music dresser for some hints and saw that she used the Wipe On Poly too. Wow! I can't exactly say that we think alike, but I can say that I'm starting to think like a professional furniture refurbisher!

So after a layer of Wipe On Poly, the dresser was complete! In case you're wondering, the only issue with the whole Mod Podge process was that the newspaper was naturally wrinkled and I couldn't smooth it out without it tearing. So there are a few small wrinkles on the dresser top, but it adds to the dresser's character. At least it does for me! And I know some of you are cringing that I used the antique newspaper, but it had some damage in the corners that made it unreadable. Now someone can read it and appreciate it everyday! That's the way I'm justifying it anyway!

So I proudly present to you the Lovely Beasts version of the French Dresser. Let's call him "The French Kiwi"! New Zealand newspaper...Kiwi...riiight.

I'm really happy with the white and grey. Never get tired of seeing it. And although a nice white or grey top would be pretty, I wanted something really different, so the newspaper was a perfect choice for me. Just a note, I took these pictures right after the layer of Wipe On Poly so it's not as shiny as it seems (and the newspaper discolorations are more subtle).

And my favorite section of the newspaper. Beautiful building in the Smith and Caughey's Spring & Summer Show ad and the hilarious Ayer's Hair Vigor.

Hope you all like it! I know it's not everyone's thing...but that's what makes it mine! :)

Love,

Emily

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