How To: Painted Faux Linen Dresser

May 26, 2022 by Denise - 46 Comments

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HOW TO TURN A GRIMY CURB-SHOPPED DRESSER INTO A GORGEOUS FAUX LINEN DRESSER | YOUTUBE TUTORIAL COMING THIS SATURDAY!

Hi creative friends! It’s Furniture Fixer Upper Day and I’m sharing how I turned this grimy curb-shopped dresser into a French Linen beauty! I picked up three different sweepers for this faux finish. Nick was teasing me it was the ONLY time he’s EVER seen me excited using a broom! 😂

I’m also sharing my blogging besties’ Furniture Fixer Upper makeovers as well so be sure to check them out below!

Here’s the dresser I found curbside. A four drawers tall boy that had been previously painted (a few times) and decorated with hearts.

Before I get into the how-to details here’s the NEW look! What do you think?

I LOVE all the texture this technique created.

THIS POST IS SPONSORED/CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS TO PRODUCTS I USE. YOU CAN SEE MY FULL DISCLOSURE HERE.

SOURCE LIST

Dresser – SALVAGED
White Lightning
Scrubby Soap
Wood Glue
All Purpose Bondo
Brush or Broom (similar)
Flotrol
BIN Shellac Based Primer
Paint Brush
French Linen Paint
Satin Clear Coat
Gold Gilding Wax
Brushed Brass Hardware

TOOL LIST

Screwdriver
Drill Set
Brad Nailer
Orbital Sander
Furniture Clamps
Hardware Template

FAUX-PAINTED LINEN DRESSER

It always touches my heart when I stumble across a previously painted piece. I believe it means one of two things. Possible the prior owner was on a budget and repainted so they wouldn’t have to buy new OR they loved the piece and wanted to style it up so it would have more years to love. Either way, I respect both. That said, this piece had at least three coats of paint on it from what I could see and it was a lot of work sanding it down. Three plus hours worth of sanding.

Here’s how it all came together…

PREP | CLEAN

This dresser was filthy. I cleaned with this here cleaner on the inside and out about three times before I wiped it all down with clean water and the sponge came out perfectly clean. Then I removed all the hardware.

LUCKY PENNY

While cleaning the inside of the drawers, look what I found – a lucky penny! Did you know we don’t use pennies here in Canada? They stopped producing them about 10 or so years ago because they cost more to produce than they are worth. Our smallest coin is the nickel and we round up or down. Funny story: when Andrea and I were on a road trip in the states, we stopped at a service station for lunch. The McDonald’s cashier asked me for $9.96. When I handed him $9.95 we had a stare-down. I was wondering what he was waiting for and I’m sure he was wondering if I could count. It took me a full minute to clue in. Anyway, I’m keeping this one for good luck!

DRAWER REPAIRS

For the drawer repairs, I glued some pieces that had popped off and realigned the drawers for a perfect fit. Using my trim nailer, I nailed the drawers back in place.

FILL AND SAND

Using this All Purpose Bondo, I filled in all the cracks and dings. Then using my orbital sander and a 120 grit, I scuff-sanded the entire dresser.

I’m often asked if a previously painted piece of furniture needs to be sanded down to wood before repainting. NO it does NOT. The goal of sanding off layers of paint is to remove all the flaking and chipping paint and create a perfectly smooth surface. Below, you can see how awful this dresser looked after three hours of sanding. It looks horrible. But when I ran my hand over the piece, it was perfectly smooth.

PRIME

I gave this dresser two coats of BIN Shellac Based Primer to stop any stains or bleedthrough.

FAUX LINEN PAINT FINISH

To create this faux linen finish I needed a broom. I wasn’t sure what size would work best so I picked up three from the Dollar Store.

The key to ANY faux finish is to have the open time of the paint (aka the length of time the paint remains wet) staying open long enough to manipulate it. A clear glaze or this Flotrol works great. Either or will stop your paint from drying too quickly. I mixed 1 cup of Flotrol into 1 cup of French Linen.

Then I mixed it up and poured it into a paper plate so I could use a roller to apply it to the dresser.

To create the delicate “fabric woven” finish, a wiry nylon brush (similar) is dragged through the wet paint in two directions. Up and down. And side to side. This creates a criss-cross woven linen finish.

I tried using all three brushes and the mid-sized one with the HANDLE left on was the winner. I’ve never seen any furniture painters leave the handle on doing this technique. They usually hold the brush in their hands and drag it over the wet paint. When I tried that, my lines went all wavey WONKY.

When I stood back from the piece and used my body to drag the brush vertically and horizontally, my lines looked great!

TOPCOAT | PROTECTION

I’ll be spraying this piece with 2-3 coats of this Satin Clear Coat.

NEW HARDWARE

I replaced the old hardware with these Brushed Brass Handles. To make installing hardware easy, I like using this template guide.

The brushed brass hardware makes the piece look fresh and modern and the brushed brass contrasts nicely against the French Linen. To tie in the brass hardware, I also used a Gold Gilding Wax on the very bottom of the feet.

Here’s the finished look!

Not bad for a girl who never picks up a broom, right?! 😉

I’ll have the full Youtube Tutorial published for you this Saturday morning so you can see this faux paint finish in action. Warning – I look pretty silly sweeping my furniture.

YOUTUBE TUTORIAL

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on Youtube. If you have any problems viewing below, feel free to watch it on my Youtube Channel HERE. Our #siyoutubefamily has hit 13.6K so don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t done so already! So exciting, thank YOU! 🙂

AND NOW FOR SOME FURNITURE FIXER-UPPER FUN!

You’re going to LOVE what my creative team of Furniture Fixer Upper ladies do! Below are their BEFORE photos. Visit the links below to see the amazing AFTERS and learn how they did it! I’m heading over to take a peek as well! x

1. GIRL IN THE GARAGE

2. PETTICOAT JUNKTION

3. SALVAGED INSPIRATIONS (HAPPY YOU’RE HERE!)

4. CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL DIYER

Here’s another look at this faux linen dresser’s before and after. I hope it’s inspired you and given you some new ideas for your projects!

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS FAUX LINEN PAINT TECHNIQUE. WOULD YOU TRY IT? FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE… I ALWAYS LOVE HEARING FROM YOU. IT MAKES MY DAY! 🙂

Happy furniture painting friends!

Denise x

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