A while back I did a post about how I wanted to paint a piece of furniture and I did!   What had originally inspired me was all the amazing furniture painted by blogger Kate of Centsational Girl, click here to see the project gallery.  She has done amazing work and gives all the tips and how to’s that you need so that you can do the same.  She also gives instructions if your piece needs some minor repairs.  This was the original piece that caught my eye:

I loved the color and how the finish was nice and glossy and those handles!

This past year my husband had taken his mother’s hope chest for a keepsake and we put it in our bedroom at the foot of the bed.  I felt like with all the other furniture in the room it was just too much wood.  I wanted to make it more of a statement in the room so with my husband’s ok we decided to refinish it.

First we had to sand it a little bit….

Then it was primed using Zinsser primer and it had to sit for 7 days.

All the materials I used were on Centsational Girl’s recommendations and they were right on.  After priming, I bought a quart of Advance formula by Benjamin Moore in a high gloss finish (my hardware store did not have high gloss in a quart size, they had to pour it for me so I do not have a picture of the label but it is gray).  I used a small roller to cover most of it and a brush on the tighter spots.   It was really easy to work with and the finish is beautiful.

I originally thought I was going to go with some form of blue because my bedroom is blue and yellow but I changed my mind because I thought it would be too much.  So I went with green instead (Jalapeno Pepper specifically).  At first I hated it. I thought it looked like the avocado green of the 1970′s : (   I was ready to run back to the hardware store to have them add something into the paint to change the shade a bit.  But I went ahead and finished it and my husband loves it (and that is important since it is his mothers).

Once it was completely done with the knobs back on (and spray painted gold) I liked it better, and the color goes nicely with my room.

Here is the finished product…..

The sunlight got in the way of the picture a bit (I also took some pics in the evening) it was difficult to get the right color to come through I literally took 20 photos!  Oh well.

If you have a piece of furniture you are thinking of painting give it a whirl!  I know I was lucky in that I did not need to do any repairs and it was in good shape but  it was a lot easier than I had expected and it gives the room such a nice update.

Have a beautiful day!