Furniture makeover - Changing table to dresser

Happy Monday!

I love to do a furniture makeover. It is very rewarding to invest your creativity and time into a piece that you know can be used for a long time. When I was expecting with my daughter, like any other price conscience mother, I looked for deals for her new nursery. I found a Babysrus oak changing table on craigslist for $40, snagged it up, and had my husband start the makeover with a new paint job. My sister and I added the initials using a stencil and acrylic paint.

Now my daughter is three and is transitioning into a big girl room that also doubles for a guest room. To update the changing table, I had to disassemble the top pieces and remove the front and side frame pieces. I used wood putty to fill in the screw holes and sanded the top until it was smooth. I decided not to repaint the top piece white again but to add some detail to the exposed oak wood with gold leaf. You can purchase gold leaf at a craft store or online. I bought my gilding kit from www.caromalcolours.com a few years ago and it has lasted forever.

Step 1: If you to want to add an embellishment of gold leaf (or silver, copper) to a piece of furniture, tape out an outline with painters tape as I did here.

Step 2: Add a base coat of paint if you want the “cracking” in the gold leaf to show with a dark color like chocolate brown. If you skip this step, you can layer your gold leaf so none of the furniture color is exposed. This is the paint my gilding kit came with.

I was unable to reuse the adhesive from the kit (it is at least seven yrs old), so I pulled out my bottle of mod podge. You can make your own mod podge by mixing water and elmers glue 50/50.

Step 3: Use a sponge or a bristle brush to apply a thin layer of glue. The gold leaf can be tricky to work with and it is best to wear plastic gloves so as not to scratch or leave finger prints in the gold leaf. Just take pieces of the gold leaf and gently lay it down and dab it with your finger or dry brush (I think the sponge brush works well here) working small sections at a time.

I removed the painters tape before I added a protective top coat. Mod podge usually works great as a top coat to seal whatever you have applied but it leaves gold leaf looking dingy. Try using a spray paint of polyurethane for protective coat or just leave as is.

Here is the end result. Drum roll please!!!