Anthropologie Knock Off - DIY Weathered Gray Dresser

Hi friends, hope you all had a fabulous weekend. We had a busy one that included a
fun charity event, a fundraiser for the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rocky Mountains,
GRRR Gala. Is that the best name or what? We were greeted by golden retrievers on the
 way in and they strolled about throughout the evening - completely spoiled with endless
 ear scratches and tummy rubs by all of us dog lovers. :)
Since I didn't have time to work on any of my projects I'm finally sharing the long overdue
 tutorial for the Anthropologie Knock Off Dresser from the
 One Room Challenge Bedroom Reveal.
 


BEFORE:
My client's dad had made them this dresser years ago but they'd never finished
it, we saw the Anthropologie Portside Dresser and set out to create a similar look.

OUR INSPIRATION:

Anthropologie Portside Dresser

HARDWARE:
Anthropologie sells the Equestrian Pulls separately
and we used Flat Corner Braces in Brass Satin from Home Depot.

We loved the rustic texture on the inspiration dresser but wanted a more subtle version,
 as well as a more overall gray color than brown.

This type of furniture makeover was a first for me. I'll tell you what I did, but different

woods and finishes will take the paint differently (i.e. my sample board vs the dresser).

I did know when creating this kind of look it's all about lots of layering the paint, 

you may start to think you've created a mess on your client's treasured piece BUT

remember it gets better as you go along. Patience!   

SUPPLIES:

Annie Sloan Chalk Paints - French Linen & Graphite

Homax Wall Texture Spray - Orange Peel 

Brown Paint (not pictured) 

Sea Sponge 

Martha Stewart Liquid Gilding in Gold - for bottom of legs

  

I tried a sample board first using spray on wall texture to achieve the rustic texture.
I played with the amount I sprayed on and also wiping it off as it dried (within minutes)
 to get a feel for the look we liked.    
It rubs/sands off easily, so if you get too much on your final product no worries.

I decided to do a base coat of a combination of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
French Linen & Graphite and then apply the texture followed by more paint.
 I dipped a slightly damp sea sponge into both colors and then blotted it
off on a the paper plate.

To 'paint' the dresser I wiped the sponge across the drawers using long strokes to
alleviate any stop/start marks. The paint dries fast so be prepared to work quickly.
It's water based, so if you mess up just add some water to a clean sponge and wash it
 off, or you can always give it a light sanding.

(Hi cute little photobomber)

 After the base coat dried I randomly sprayed the wall texture over the dresser.

Then lightly rub it off to create the splotches of texture.
At this point you can tweak it to get your desired color, I added a few strokes of
brown paint (not chalk paint, just some craft paint I had) in the same method with the
sea sponge.

And continued to tweak it with a little green that I noticed in our inspiration
piece and then soften it with the lighter chalk paint watered down.
I'm sorry I can't be more specific here, it was just a lot of trial and error standing back
looking at it adding paint here and there until we came up with the color we liked.
We didn't end up sealing it with any finish or wax yet, but may still do that at some
point if we feel like it's necessary.

Despite not knowing what I was doing it was a fun project and we ended up
 loving the end result. Thank goodness!

If you'd like you can see how it looks with the rest of the their bedroom makeover:
 Another Craigslist Bedroom Reveal