Sticky Paint Update.

Some of you have been asking for an update on the dresser I painted a couple of weeks ago. In case you missed it, here is a before photo of the dresser. It was nice, solid wood antique piece covered in a layer of creamy white paint.

After some consideration, I decided against painting it my go-to white and selected a dark moody grey with blue undertones (Jet Set ~ Debbie Travis). I loved how it turned out but there was a problem. I used paint that I found in my basement. I have so many cans, from so many projects, that I couldn't remember where it came from. The problem was that the paint didn't seem to want to dry. It remained tacky over several days of waiting. Hmmm.. what next?

I knew there could be several reasons for while this was happening (paint had gone bad, too much colorant in the paint, etc) but I narrowed it down to finding out that the particular line of paint had a history of this. Good to know! :) I turned to my friends in the blogosphere, pleading for some advice. Was there a solution without having to strip it? I was desperate.

Which led to this idea. What about putting a layer of water based varnish on top to seal the paint? Worth a try. Well, it worked, in a sense. It sealed the paint but the moisture did not allow the varnish to dry properly and I had rough white bumps all over the dresser.

I was determined. I'd just sand off the rough spots and now that it was sealed, I could just add one more coat of the paint (mixed in a good paint) and it would be perfect! Right?.. nope. Guess what happens when you sand sticky paint? It just peels right off. {Insert tears of frustration here}

That's when we ended up dragging the dresser out to the shed and doused it in stripper. This was my first experience stripping a piece of furniture and I found great satisfaction in the process. Try to tell me you don't want to get scraping that paint right off!

I think I inherited my interest from my dad. Did I ever tell you he is the master of antique refinishing? Which leads to the next part. All the paint was removed and we gave it a quick sanding all the while realizing that it would be silly to plaster paint over it all over again. So the decision to refinish was born. So much for mulling over paint colors, this dresser is going original! 

So we packed it up and headed to dad's garage. Who am I kidding? He knows what he is doing so why not leave this part to him. I am actually really excited about it. I love painted furniture but it's nice to have some pieces that are real wood. There is something grown-up about it? Plus, I still think it will go perfect in the bedroom makeover. Which is why this problem project all came to be after all!

My Dad is a busy man though and there is lots of sanding to be done before it can be stained and varnished. I'll try to be patient:)