I’m so excited to finally be able share this before and after with you!  Let’s just say it’s been some time in coming.

There is something really lovely about fading roses, don’t you think?

You may recall that the recently painted and wallpapered chest of drawers that was previously in my dressing room had been moved to the living room to house our DVDs.  This is because I’d purchased a larger chest of drawers to take it’s place.

And you may also recall from my previous post about the moodboard for my dressing room, that my original plan was to paint said future purchased chest of drawers a lovely coral colour.

This was the original ebay ad image.  It looked brown in the picture however when I got it home, it was actually closer to a dark reddish orange.  For Β£30, I wasn’t really going to argue because it was getting the paint treatment regardless.

Well, when I finally brought this large rather unfortunate-looking dresser home with me, I became suddenly unsure about my paint choice.

Chest of drawers before – the colour is more accurate here.

I lived with her in her rather unfortunate state for around 6 weeks before I made a decision. 

The conversation went something like this….

Me:  “I’m going to paint you a wonderful coral colour!”

Chest of Drawers:  “Erm.  I’m already orange.”

Me:  “No, I’m not going to paint you orange.  Coral is LOVELY.  You’re gonna love it!”

Chest of Drawers:  “But it might as well be orange.  I’m ALREADY orange.  I’ve been orange for YEARS.”

Me:  “Coral is NOT orange!  It’s more like a pinky-orange… Anyway – why are you arguing with me?  This was my intention all along.  You’re going to be coral.  That’s all there is to it.”

Chest of Drawers:  “Coral, orange, whatever.”  (Chest of Drawers sulks)

Me (sighing):  “Oh okay….I’ll think about it.”

Chest of Drawers (suddenly brightening):  “Woohoo!”

And so after 6 weeks of debate, I gave in.  This dresser didn’t want to be coral.  This dresser wanted to be turquoise.  A lovely pale turquoise.  The decision had been made.

And so I took to a weekend of sanding, applying a coat of undercoat and then a coat of primer…

And I took the gorgeous handles that were a bit sad and tarnished…

And shined them up all pretty using Brasso.

I love that one handle has a different pull.  That’s character people!

And then I painted the chest of drawers with 2 coats of a lovely pale turquoise by Dulux called ‘Inky Pool 4‘.

The colour on my screen is reading more blue here but anyway…

You may also recall from my dressing room moodboard post that I was looking at purchasing a few lovely gold accessories from An Angel At My Table.  Well, I bought them.

And this sad little room is finally, after weeks and weeks, starting to come together.  It’s not the moodboard dream YET.  But we are finally a step or two into the journey.

So do you wanna see the whole thing?  Well of course you do…

Here she is.

Those lovely handles up close and personal…

Not sure why it looks a bit orangey in this pic (think some clothing reflected 
in it’s shininess) but the handles are most definitely gold!

How about a few detail shots?

The tray is from An Angel at my Table and the middle tin is a candle from Anthropologie.

The jewelry holder is also from An Angel at my Table.

Put a bird on it!!!

The ‘print’ was a card from the lovely Meera of First Sense*
and is by Gavin Harrison.  I love it!  The frame is from Homebase.

I also purchased this little round gold tray which at the moment, is living on top of the boxes-covered-in-fabric ensemble but will eventually be on the Ikea Billy bookshelves that have yet to be purchased.

And now, with the further addition of gold in this room, I’m even more desperate to purchase this big gorgeous mirror to go above the chest of drawers.

Graham and Green

Despite the mirror’s rather extortionate price tag (It’s Β£229 on another site), I am comforted by the fact that the chest of drawers makeover (not including the accessories) only cost me Β£50 – Β£30 for the dresser, Β£18 for the turquoise paint and Β£2 for the Brasso – everything else I already had to hand. So a splurge may be in order! ;)

I’m kind of glad I lived with the dresser before making a rash decision regarding it’s colour.  And sometimes I guess you just have to be prepared for a piece of furniture to make the decision for you.

So what do you think?  Do you think it was the right decision to go with this colour or do you think I should have stuck to my guns and gone for coral?  Have you had any adventures in furniture conversation?  Are you getting into antique gold in a big way like I am? Do share in the comments…

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*By the way, speaking of the lovely Meera of First Sense, do you know she’s hosting a giveaway of some artwork/jewelry by the equally lovely and talented Michele of Hello Lovely?  I have one of Michele’s pieces already in my dining room and the detail of her mix media work is just stunning.  I promise you’ll love it.

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