Tacky Dresser / Dressing Table Revamp

I got this ugly 1960's style chest of drawers from a car boot sale for £12. Some would say I overpaid.....I, however, saw the inner beauty in this absolutely fugly piece.

Okay, are your eyes bleeding?? Its pretty horendous, isn't it? the faux marble effect is......well, awful is about the only word I can think of. Its got good lines though, and thats what I kept telling myself for the last 2 months while its been sitting in house waiting for its ugly duckling to swan moment.

To be truthful, I had no idea what direction I was going to go with this one. I knew that I wanted it to become a make-shift dressing table in my oh so small bedroom. I had been looking for a dressing table for ages and unless you want to spend a ridiculous amount of cash, its just not possible. So, this little baby was going to become my wannabe dressing table. 

After alot of internet searching, I finally settled on a red scheme for the bedroom, to which this piece was going to be a focal point. Well at least that was one problem sorted. I had the colour now.......but that was it. 

On my pinterest boards, I have a ton of pics / tutorials for Mod Podging drawer fronts with all sorts of stuff (fabric, wrapping paper, tissue paper, wallpaper, etc) I thought that this project would suit something a little harder-wearing like wallpaper. Off to Homebase I went...

  

This is what I came home with. I liked the large, bold print and really liked the colour. I managed to snag this as a "sample piece" and ironically it was exactly the right size to fit what I needed. I mulled over the idea of leaving the trim, sides and the legs in a neutral colour but thats not bold and daring, is it??? Live dangerously. 

I tell you now, this is not the colour it turned out to be AT ALL. I took a bit of the wallpaper with me and this colour chip matched the red flower perfectly. Its amazing how colours online can be deceiving. 

This next part is a little self-explanatory and therefore I didn't take any pics. I painted the unit. Thats it. I made sure that I painted the trim lip on the draw fronts as well as the underside of the top piece (just incase this was visible) and waited for it to dry. I chose to opt for the gloss paint - so drying times were epic....

Next was my absolutely favorite bit, MOD PODGE. I freakin' love this stuff. I actually find things to use it on. There are a million and one different blogs / sites that feature Mod Podge projects but for anyone starting out, check out this one (Modpodgerocks) This is where I went in the early days of my Mod Podge obsession, check it out. 

So, back to the dresser. I had now sanded down the drawer fronts to allow the Mod Podge to stick better. Don't trim your paper to fit the space, let it hang off the sides, I've learned a great trick for this. Make sure you lay your paper a straight as possible without messing with it too much, then work out all the bubbles (kinda like wallpapering) After the Mod Podge dries, take a nail file (yup, you heard me right, a nail file) and sand off the edges of the paper at the crease. I think the picture explains it better....

 

I filed all of the edges off the drawer fronts and then did the exact same thing with the top. This gives the best finish I've seen and is so flipping easy to do I don't know why everyone doesn't do this!?! 

Once the dresser was finished, I put the handles back on ( I was going to change them but I kinda like 'em now) and then brought it back to its rightful place in the bedroom....

I love it......I can't wait to fill it with all my goodies.....