How To Paint A Kitchen Dresser

Alexa writes:

“I love the finish on this secretaire!  I want to paint a pine kitchen dresser with glass doors in the top like this. If the blue dresser is the only blue in the room, do you think it will stand out too much? Or should I paint the island blue too? Which colours would you use in this room?”

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DIAGNOSIS

INSPIRATION

This is what the cupboard should look like.

BEFORE

This is what it looks like now.

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The Cure

 

CUPBOARD PAINT FINISH

Funny thing – this finish from the course was actually based on the exact secretaire in the image! So, if you like, you could add the fluted detail on the doors just like on the secretaire. I especially like the diamond detail of the top doors – you could do that on your bottom doors.

Your cupboard has beautiful wood and I would suggest exposing as much as shown in the secretaire – maybe even more. Especially on the work surface and the skirting as this is a working piece and would historically have had a lot of wear and tear.

 

ROOM COLOURS

Painting the walls white gives a clear and crisp backdrop for painted furniture with a lot of patina. Painting the island also in blue is a good idea as this will repeat the colour in the room. But I would suggest that the blues do not match. The one, for instance, can be greyish blue and the other greenish blue. It must look as if the pieces came from different houses entirely. Repeat the blue accents somewhere else in the room with a smaller piece or a picture frame to balance the colour.

 

Keep the colour palette simple. White walls with a light wood colour floor provide a basic shell. On the next “layer”, you add a few blue pieces. Study the colours in the inspiration photos. Do you notice that the blue secretaire, the green books and the gold objects virtually merge with each other? These colours are all complementing each other perfectly – one does not “stand out” when placed next to the other. To keep the simplicity of this blue-and-white colour scheme, you have to ensure that all the other pieces, even the window coverings, are from the same colour palette. By doing this, they will merge with either the white shell or with the blue-green-gold combo. If you add a lot of additional colours, you will lose the contrast of the blue combo against the white.

 

Remember, adding a 3rd accent colour that you can change seasonally is very easy. For instance, placing one red chair in a simple colour scheme like this will create great contrast and energy to an otherwise calm interior.