Faded Grandeur Finish on Vintage Dresser

This is my interpretation of the Faded Grandeur finish as taught by Jonathan Marc Mendes at The Painted Love Academy (no affiliate).  I finished the course recently and knew this vintage dresser would be a good piece to try it out on. If you're interested in learning more about the Faded Grandeur technique or any of Jonathan's other courses, you can register for free and view a couple of sample courses.

The dresser was made in the early 1900's and was manufactured by the Sligh Furniture Company in Michigan. The label on the back indicated it was sold by the department store Pouge's in Cincinnati, Ohio.

It also includes a coordinating mirror with beautiful detail trim work. The set is very large, so I kept it disassembled as I worked on the project.

One major problem is the center drawer was missing the key, and since there wasn't a knob, a key was essential. I bought it with the hopes that one of my skeleton keys would fit, and luckily for me I had one that fit. If you hunt thrift stores for furniture then a set of skeleton keys will come in very handy. (Links to products are provided for your convenience. These are products that I have actually purchased and used. Don't worry it won't cost you extra.)

It gets a bit crazy while I am working on projects, so I tucked the key safely away while I worked. In the interim I made a temporary drawer pull with painters tape.

The temporary drawer pull worked like a charm.

The second major problem with the dresser was the severely damaged veneer on the drawer fronts. A few missing pieces here and there can be patched in fairly easily.

But the wood veneer on the bottom drawer especially had a lot of damage across the entire drawer front.

If you look closely you can see that the wood is loose and buckling.

The damage was too severe to repair, so I decided to remove the loose sections.

I patched the areas missing veneer with wood filler. After it was dry I sanded it smooth with my orbit sander. I used a professional strength wood filler for this project.

I wanted an even finish beneath my painted surface, so I applied a gel stain over the wood filler.

As usually happens with wood filler, it required a second coat. But I sort of liked the grungy look and instead decided to work it into my design.

For the painting process I set up two work stations. I used my kitchen island to paint the mirror frame. Taping off the mirror isn't strictly necessary, but I find it worthwhile to take a few minutes beforehand and tape it -- less clean up in the end.

.

I created a second temporary painting studio in my living room. I had to temporarily re-route pedestrian traffic, but everyone was a good sport about it.

My base color is French Linen and the main color is Duck Egg Blue. The base color isn't prominent, but it does make a difference in the end which you will see in one of the "after" photos.

I don't have the steadiest of hand when it comes to painting, so I used a small angled artist brush to paint the Duck Egg around the detailed trim work. The angled brush makes all the difference.

AFTER:

And here she is with her new Faded Grandeur painted finish. The staging props I used were chosen strictly for me to hide behind while I took the photos.

The main color is Duck Egg with Coco and Old White for the trim.

For the frame holding the mirror I used Coco and Old White with a touch of dark wax.

The dresser in the foreground is Duck Egg Blue over a base coat of French Linen. The chair in the background is also Duck Egg Blue, but the base coat is Old Ochre. Can you see the difference the base coat makes?

Thank you for stopping by The Black Sheep Shoppe today!