First off, let’s take a minute and acknowledge two things.
1. Herringbone is different from Chevron, and definitely different from Houndstooth. While looking for an actual Herringbone pattern on both Pinterest and Google, the number of incorrect images was surprising! I will say that Herringbone is the most open to interpretation. There are lots of options of stripe thickness, and some people put a seam between the stripes. However in no way should you confuse Herringbone with Houndstooth, as they really look nothing alike. Get it together Pinners!
I made ya’ll this little cheat sheet for fun!
2. This is the trendiest thing I have ever made. I pretty much made this exclusively for Pinterest. Kidding…kind of. It just encompasses all of Pinterests favorite things:
-Chevron/Herringbone/stripes
-Grey and Peach
-Dipped gold details
-DIY
-FREE!
You read that right! This project in total cost me $8. Total.
The dresser I found in an ally with a free sign on it. I made Mr. Gaunt strap it to the roof, as it wouldn’t fit in the trunk or back seat. DAMN I NEED A MINIVAN! The Peach paint was leftover from the Laundry Room. The white paint was leftover from the house trim, and I already owned a sander and all the painting equipment. The only things we bought were a $1 can of OOPS paint (the dark grey) and a can of Rustoleum Gold Spray paint for like $7. Obviously this project would not be this cheap if you were not a paint supply hoarder, or a back ally furniture scavenger (in which case, we have nothing in common)
Time wise this project took an embarrassing amount of time. I did spread it out over about 4 days, to let each coat really cure before painting more. That’s really important when doing a lot of taping off. I started with washing, lightly sanding, and painting the whole dresser peach and the drawer fronts white. I removed the knobs and the feet (which unscrewed with ease).
Next was the taping off. Oh lordy this was tricky. You may not know this about me, but the only thing I hate more than math, is measuring. Remember the stripes I just eyeballed in the spare room. However I knew that if I picked a geometric pattern on a small space, I really needed it to be accurate. And really I just shouldn’t be so lazy.
I looked online for a pattern for a while but couldn’t find one. Then I just sat down and drew out what I wanted on a piece of cardboard, then started measuring. I did this wrong twice before getting it right. I didn’t want to have to tape twice, so I had to make sure I calculated both the white and grey areas accurately. I wrote “G” in the grey areas so I wouldn’t get confused. It was tedious, and probably took me a solid hour just taping. ): ALSO: Frog Tape is soo much better than blue tape.
While it dried I painted the feet and knobs all metallic gold.
When it was all done, I was so in love! I made Mr. Gaunt come out to the garage to stare at it with me! I have plans to put a polyurethane (waterbased) coat on it too, but its like $15 for a can, and I’m poor. Plus no one will really be using this dresser. It’s been placed in our spare room, and will belong to future babies…lucky bastards.
My favorite is that you called your future babies bastards!! :). Looks great in person!
I like it.
Yes…this is cool!
So cool — absolutely perfect for the future little lucky bastards! 😉
Love it – up cycling is the way forward!
Wow that is seriously cute! I love the bold, graphic look:-)
Awesome 😀
http://journeythroughhtml.wordpress.com/
looks nice:-)
Before I started reading the post, I was wondering what the difference between herringbone and chevron was! Ha! Thanks for clarifying it for me immediately! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed. 🙂
Great design on the cheap.
I am SO glad you cleared up the houndstooth/herringbone confusion. (: What fun that you have dresser DIY fever too! I just did a chevron dresser in a punchy colour and am really loving it (http://allmussedup.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/of-chevron-revival-or-a-diy-dresser-revamp/).
Good job! It looks great 🙂
Love your color selection!
if only i had space … life in a tiny home so my projects are limited 🙂 love the square knobs … gorgeous overall
Can I come borrow our backyard to do our dresser? I just want to sand and paint it a solid color. 🙂 Don’t think it would work to try and do it on our back porch!
Super cute. Nice work. I thought you had used gold leaf on the knobs and feet when I first looked at the pictures. That would be way more work than necessary, something I would do. Spray paint…brilliant!
Looks awesome! You’ve got me thinking about herringbone patterns now. I’m in the DIY frenzy too. I’m working on the guestroom first, then going to try out a few other rooms. Now I just need to find some awesome back alley / craigslist finds. 😉
We could use a new dresser. I’m going to send this to my wife. Thanks for sharing!
I love this I have some furniture that could use some “plastic surgery”. I do a craft blog as well and I love great new ideas. Congrats on being freshly pressed 🙂
Courtney @ http://myyearinpins.wordpress.com/
combination of red and green :).
Fantastic job! I’m about to move house, and want to paint some furniture to mix it up a bit. Might do a bit of herringbone myself!
Great job! Love the cost too. I think you need to find a venue to sell some of your “art”. I did this for a while and on some occasions turned a “free” find into a $150 price tag. Look forward to seeing some of your new creations. You Matter! Smiles, Nancy
We live near Charleston in Sussex, England, home, in the 1930’s of the Bloomsbury Group. They are superbig on painted furniture http://www.charleston.org.uk/ . Just reminded me although a totally different look of course! Congratualtions on being Freshly Pressed from TheBigForest.
Good job like it very much..
Interesting … 🙂
what a fabulous DIY project. I love the final dresser
Awesome job on the dresser re-do! I LOVE things like this and you did a great job…not to mention, your lines are straight too! LOL LOVE IT, LOVE IT! What are you going to paint next?
Me likey! Very cool.
Love it! Great work!
wow! I can’t imagine myself doing this! Probably I’d paint more my clothes than the dresser… by the way, Great job!! ^^
The stripes remind me of alternating highway guard-rails. Guess I’m not a fashionista. Congrats on being freshly pressed.
Brilliant idea, and so well done!
Oh my gosh this is so perfect! The gold details and the peach make it look so luxurious and expensive! I can’t believe you found this on the road!! I need one!
Si, buena sesión de bricolaje, ha quedado muy bien.
Very cute!
I love taking things that are beat up, old and grungy looking and making them all new and beautiful
good idea and looks great!