Painted Dresser Ideas

Contemporary

• Give a dresser a sleek modern appearance with a high-gloss finish in white or black. Opt for spray paint or use a smooth sponge roller to impart an even texture. For a contemporary theme in lighter colors, choose gray, beige or sage green with a matte finish. The key to a professional-looking matte finish is prepping your dresser with a thorough sanding job. Start with medium sand paper and finish with a fine gauge sand paper before painting your dresser. Choose matte-finish or flat spray paints and be sure to apply evenly for continuity and a solid appearance.

Distressed

• You can break all the rules with painting when it comes to creating a dresser with a distressed appearance. Place random dings and scratches in your dresser with a hammer and scraper. Instead of sanding the dresser smooth before painting, just sand the edges down to the bare wood. Choose a bright paint color such as blue, red or yellow and use a wire brush to paint your dresser, including the edges. After the paint finish dries, re-expose the wood edges with sand paper. This process is extremely quick and allows you to create a distressed look on the edges to compliment an intentionally textured paint job.

Scenic or Stenciled

• Start with a smooth finish and solid color dresser such as pastel yellow or blue. Use an artist's brush to paint a simple picture on your dresser such as a single tree with branches spreading across dresser drawers. If you're not artistically talented, look for stencils in hobby stores and use them to depict anything from houses to botanical garden flowers on your dresser. Stencils are also ideal for painting a child's dresser with a princess or race car theme.

Color Block

• If you're having a hard time deciding on the best color for your dresser, combine a group of your favorites in a color-coordinated paint scheme. If shades of blue are your top picks, choose a single shade of blue as the base for the dresser and choose lighter, but coordinating shades of blue for each dresser drawer. The darker the base color, the more the lighter shades will "pop" against the backdrop. For a more subtle effect, choose a base color in a lighter shade and opt for all the drawers in a hue that is slightly darker than the base.