Instructions

1. Remove the dresser’s drawers. Clean and sand the dresser body and the drawer fronts, wiping off any sanding dust with the tack cloth.
2. With the paintbrush, apply a coat of water-base primer to all surfaces. Then give the entire dresser two coats of white latex enamel paint, sanding lightly between coats (see photo).
    
   
3. With the drawers still removed, paint all surfaces of the dresser body—except for the top surface, the sides’ central panels, and the bottom apron.

Using the Frottage Technique

4. In the following steps you’ll use a faux finishing technique called frottage to give the paint a watercolor look. Tape off the sides’ center inset panels and any portions of the top that are adjacent to areas you’ll be painting. Mix the glazing medium with light periwinkle in a 3:1 ratio.
5. Brush the glaze onto the areas outside the taped panel on one of the sides (see photo).
    
   
6. Press a sheet of crinkled plastic over the wet glaze, and immediately lift off the plastic (see photo).
    
   
7. Immediately pounce the glaze with a slightly damp sea sponge to soften the finish (see photo).
    
   
8. Repeat the process on the other side, as well as on the legs and the front of the dresser body except for the bottom apron. Let the frottaged finish dry thoroughly.
9. Using the same technique described in steps 4 through 8, frottage the top’s outer beveled edges, as well as the back railing on the top and the bottom apron below the drawer openings. Tape off any areas adjacent to those parts.
10. Mix glazing medium with medium yellow acrylic paint in a 3:1 ratio.
11. Brush on the glaze and press crinkled plastic over it. Lift off the plastic (see photo). Soften the finish by lightly pouncing it with a damp sea sponge.
     
    

Creating the Top’s Border Stripe

12. Measure and mark a line 1⁄2" (1.3 cm) from the edge on both sides and the front. Then measure and mark another line 1" (2.5 cm) in from each edge, parallel to the first line. Tape off the areas outside the parallel lines, leaving an unprotected 1⁄2" (1.3 cm) space between the tape strips.
13. Mix glazing medium and light periwinkle in a 3:1 ratio.
14. Using the wash brush, paint the exposed stripe areas (see photo).
     
    
15. Immediately pounce a bunched-up bundle of plastic all the way around the border, removing some of the glaze (see photo).
     
    
16. Soften the glaze by gently pouncing it with a slightly damp sea sponge. Work quickly before the glaze dries. Remove the tape strips.

Painting the Drawer Fronts

17. Work on the drawer fronts, one at a time. Remove the knobs. Measure in and lightly mark a line 3⁄4" (1.9 cm) from each of the drawer front’s four sides, creating a 3⁄4" outer border. Tape off the adjacent areas inside the center box, where you’ll stencil a motif later.
18. Mix glazing medium with acrylic paint in a 3:1 ratio. See the chart at the end of the instructions for each drawer’s border and stencil colors (the bunny drawer is shown here).
19. Using the wash brush, paint the outer border with the glaze. Pounce the wet border with a bundle of plastic and soften the glaze by pouncing it again with a slightly damp sea sponge. Remove the tape.
20. Next, position the center motif stencil on the drawer and tape it in place. Using a medium brush and the acrylic paint color indicated, stencil the design (see photo).
     
    
21. To complete the drawer, stencil a portion of the Teardrop Border design on each side of, and in the same color as, its center motif (see photo).
     
    
22. Finish each drawer’s knobs by brushing on a 3:1 mixture of glazing medium and acrylic paint in the same color as that drawer’s center motif. Quickly pounce the glaze using crumpled plastic first and then a damp sea sponge.
23. Create the other three drawers’ borders and stencil motifs by repeating steps 17 through 22.
24. Finally, use a small stencil brush and sage green paint to stencil the Teardrop Border design around the inside perimeter of each white side panel and inside the periwinkle strip on the top (see photo).
     
    
25. Replace the knobs on the drawers. Apply two coats of water-base satin varnish to all surfaces.
     
    

Drawer Motifs and Colors

English Country Dresser Stencil Patterns