Long, low dressers are some of my favorite pieces of furniture to make over. Their low profile means they can be used in any room of the house – in the bedroom as a dresser, in the office as a credenza, in the living room as a TV console, or in the dining room as a buffet.
When I came across this six-foot long, low colonial dresser, I didn’t even flinch at the out-of-date style. What I saw was a future coastal blue buffet with tons of storage and amazing dental detail along the top edge.
Here’s how it looked in it’s original colonial form. Those doors had to go since the arch enhanced the colonial style. The same went for the hardware. Also notice the scroll work along the bottom edge – this also had to go and was easily removed with a jig saw.
Just eliminating these three elements along and adding a modern paint color and this 1970’s dresser was completely transformed to live again in the 21st century.
Inspiration for the rich blue color came from this wooden wine plaque hanging in my kitchen. To me this is the perfect blue. Very navy with just a small amount of purple.
General Finishes Coastal Blue Milk Paint is almost a perfect match. I also wanted to capture a little of the black so I used General Finishes Pitch Black Glaze over the Coastal Blue then finished with several coats of GF’s High Performance Flat topcoat.
In some of these photos the paint looks very blue and, in others, much more black from the glaze. This is one of the things I love about the finish. While I love the blue that shows in the light, the black blends in very nicely with other black decor on the same floor. 
You can see in this post titled Using Wood Filler to Repair Furniture how I re-built that broken molding on the left side corner.
Also notice the decorative scrolls that were removed to make a more modern profile along the bottom edge.
Now I just need to find the perfect hardware.
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Thank you & Enjoy!
Vicki
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Beautiful color! I love its finish! I want to makeover our dresser, and i can not decide whether i’ll use milk or chalk paint! After seeing this, i ‘ll probably choose milk paint!
Thank you so much. Milk paint gives such a beautiful, modern finish. It’s one of my favorite paints.
Love the color you choose for this!
Hi Vicki! Love it and sharing tonight on The Painted Drawer Link Party!
Thank you Suzanne! I know I still need the hardware… just waiting to find the perfect ones. It all eventually comes together in stages.
A fab color and project!
Thank you Debbie. I love General Finishes Coastal Blue too.
I like the color — it’s really rich and has a lot of depth to it. I also like the way you modernized the lines of the piece. Nice makover!
Thank you Carol. Old colonial dressers are my favorite to make over because you see the most dramatic difference in the change.
The dresser turned out just lovely. I love the finish.
Thank you!
I love this transformation. And you are so right about removing those doors that really date it. It looks so much more sleek and modern now.
Thank you Mary. Colonial dressers are my favorite to refinish because the transformation is so extreme!