Soften a chest of drawers with a 3D effect

Findings and preparation?

Sometimes it takes a lot of searching before you find the rare gem that’s just right for you. We make great finds scouring second-hand sites or browsing jumble sales, and sometimes even find them on the side of the road. After several weeks of searching, I finally unearthed a magnificent chest of drawers for the modest sum of $35. Apart from its harsh color, it was exactly the style I was looking for to furnish my room.

I’d already heard of the 3D effect to bring femininity to a piece of furniture. After doing a bit of research left and right, and feeling confident, I decided to apply this technique to my new chest of drawers.

So here’s a project I loved doing, and which taught me how to soften a chest of drawers with a few decorative elements.

List of products used :

Colorantic cleaner and varnish remover
Colorantic oil-based all-purpose primer
Colorantic Ballerine chalk paint
Colorantic Pivoine chalk paint (colors on clearance)
Colorantic natural beeswax
Colorantic foam roller
Purple oval brush #6 synthetic and snow white
Colorantic sandblasting block
Silicone mold
Ultra-powerful glue
Paper towels
Casting resin

Colorantic Products

Preparation

The most important step before starting the project was cleaning. So I deep-cleaned inside and out using Colorantic’s polish cleaner and remover.

I sprayed the cleaner on all surfaces and let it sit for 30 minutes. During the rest period, I sprayed twice. After 30 minutes I soaked a cloth in very hot water, wrung it out well and wiped all surfaces to remove any residue. I rinsed a second time to make sure there was no cleaner left.

Next, I quickly sanded to scratch with 120-grit sandpaper, then wiped again to remove the dust. I had to repair a few places with wood filler. I then sanded these specific areas, not forgetting to remove the dust.

Before starting to paint, I removed the handles. It’s important to remove the hardware we don’t want to paint. Good preparation is surely the least interesting step, but undoubtedly the most important, as it ensures long-lasting, hard-wearing work.

For this piece, I had to apply two coats of Colorantic’s oil-based, all-purpose primer. I lightly sanded the surface between coats with 120-grit sandpaper and made sure to remove all dust.

Here comes the most pleasant moment

First, I applied two coats of chalk paint, color, Ballerine. I chose to sand between coats of paint to soften the brushstrokes and achieve a smoother finish. It is very important to always dust well between sanding operations. As this chalk paint dries very quickly, you don’t have to wait long between coats.

The color I chose perfectly matches the delicate shapes of the chest.

Once the paint had dried, I placed the chest on its back, leaving the drawers inside, to make it easier to place my resin flowers.

In parallel, I made a batch of resin flowers in silicone molds, for which you’ll find instructions in the box and which are very easy to execute. Once the flowers were finished, I decided where I would place them.

Once I’d found the right spot, I fixed everything in place using strong glue.

As I only had two molds, I made more flowers by filling my molds with resin again. If the flowers are partly on the drawers, to give them a consistent look when we open and close the drawers, we need to cut them off.

When the flowers were very well set, I also used the color, Ballerine, to paint them.

Once the work was finished, I wasn’t entirely satisfied; I felt there was a little something missing!

I decided to make the flowers stand out even more, by drybrushing them with the color Peony. Finally, I finished and sealed the project by applying Colorantic’s natural beeswax.

Instead of the original handles, I opted for wooden handles that I also painted with the color, Ballerine.