We’ve been rearranging a few rooms and one of the pieces that moved is a painted dresser that now sits in our keeping room, which is essentially our living room. Moving things around has given us a fresh perspective on the flow and function of our home, and the dresser has found a new purpose and place beside the fireplace.
This dresser has been a reliable piece for years. You might remember it in earlier homes; at one point it had a gold finish and lived in our craftsman house and then in our Seattle house. For a while it was tucked into an upstairs hallway, but when a new cabinet better suited that spot, the dresser was ready for a new role downstairs.
Rather than get rid of it, we wanted to keep the extra storage and surface space. With a bit of shuffling, the dresser fit nicely next to the fireplace and feels right in the room for now. I’ve been experimenting with lamp placement too — the lamp visible in the first photo has since moved to the Snug and I love it there, so I expect a few more swaps in the coming days as I fine-tune the arrangement.
Painting the dresser has been on my to-do list for some time, so this move presented the perfect opportunity. We used leftover paint from our entry and bedroom stripes and applied two coats of Misty Air by Benjamin Moore. For the final coat we chose a semi-gloss to give the piece a bit of luster and added durability. The result is a soft, fresh finish that brightens the space and looks intentional.
It’s fun to see the dresser in its many incarnations. Below you can see photos of the piece before it was painted this time — one from when it had the gold finish and another from nearly twelve years ago when it was in a bedroom. Each version carries memories from different rooms and seasons of our life, which is part of what makes secondhand and repurposed furniture so appealing.
And below is the dresser nearly twelve years ago in our bedroom.
Refreshing furniture with paint is an economical and creative way to change the look of a room without buying new items. I have another painted dresser upstairs that we moved to a different room; I’m considering repainting that one too. Small updates like new paint, hardware, or repositioning a piece can significantly alter the feel of a space and breathe new life into familiar items.
If you’re thinking about painting furniture yourself, a few practical tips: prepare the surface well by cleaning and lightly sanding if needed, use a primer when switching between dramatically different colors or finishes, and choose a durable topcoat for pieces that will see daily use. Semi-gloss or satin finishes are often a good compromise between appearance and durability for dressers and cabinets.
Have you been repainting or repurposing any furniture lately? Moving pieces from room to room and updating them with paint is one of my favorite ways to refresh a home without spending a lot. It’s satisfying to see an old piece feel new again and to find a place where it works better for your needs.
How to Create a Collected Home on a Budget (+ Secondhand Pieces in My Home!)
The Tale of My Dream Bed found on Facebook Marketplace