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I’ve had this dresser since I was a young girl. I distinctly remember getting it for Christmas one year (I was the type that asked for furniture and decor – go figure, ha!). I loved it for many years and it served me well. Once I got married and it moved with me into our house, however, it was a huge, heavy piece in our little master bedroom. (The poor wall and curtain choices didn’t help, but that’s a discussion for another time!)

We lived with it like that for nearly 6 years. When it came time to finally makeover our bedroom, however, I knew something about the dresser needed to change! I was going to either make over the existing dresser or find a new one entirely.

I should just tell you that this is going to be a short post because it was such a simple makeover! But that’s a good thing, right?!

The first simple step in lightening up the dresser was removing the trifold mirror and replacing it with a free-hanging round mirror.

I fell in love with this one from Homegoods:

The second step was patching, cleaning, taping, and painting. That’s several steps but they’re so brief that we’re grouping them.

Before I painted, I removed all the hardware and filled the hardware holes in just the top drawers. They had 2.5 inch spacing while all the other drawers had 3 inch spacing. I had already chosen my hardware and wanted to use all the same size. I highly recommend selecting specific hardware before you paint. That way you’ll know if you need to patch holes, sand, etc. I used Varathane Wood Filler in Natural. Just fill in the holes and sand down the excess at the top once dry. You may need several coats depending on the depth of the hole.

I then gave the dresser a good cleaning. I love using Simple Green Cleaning Spray for prepping furniture pieces. It removes dirt, residue, and smells.

Next I used some Frog Tape to tape off the top of the dresser. I wanted to leave the wood top as it was and just paint the body.

For the paint, I chose Fusion Mineral Paint in “Victorian Lace.”

If you’re not familiar with Fusion Mineral Paint, it’s a fantastic line and I definitely recommend checking them out. You can visit their website to view the color selection, read about the benefits of the their products, and find a local or online retailer.

I ended up needing three coats to completely get rid of brush strokes over the dark finish. It dries to the touch quite quickly, so re-coat time is pretty fast. I just use whatever decent quality paint brush we have available in the house – nothing terribly fancy or expensive.

I painted the drawer fronts separately out on the driveway.

Finally, after everything was completely dry, I attached the new hardware.

My husband sweetly surprised me and drilled new holes in the top drawers for me while I was napping one day (I was very pregnant), so I didn’t need to do it.

For the hardware I chose a vintage-inspired yet simple pull in “Antique Bronze.”

Then I spent a ton of time deliberating over the top of the dresser – Refinish it? Leave it? Stain it darker or bleach it natural? I finally decided just to leave it for now.

Is it slightly more red than I would like? Yes. Is it unthinkably vile? Haha, no – at least I don’t think so. Plus, it currently has a very smooth and durable factory finish which I’d hate to destroy if I’m not 100% positive what I want.

There’s definitely something to be said for taking the time to be certain about a decision and knowing one’s personal limits. Refinishing a dresser top at 37 weeks pregnant was not something I really wanted to take on. I’ll live with it for a few months and if I would still like to change it then I’ll refinish it later.

In working with my decision to keep the existing top, I purposely chose a tall vase that has a similar dark rusty color around the top. This continues the dresser hue upward and connects it with the natural wood trim of the mirror, helping to better harmonize the contrasting tones.

It’s amazing how so simple a makeover can yield such big results. The piece feels so much lighter in the room now – it’s like a weight has been lifted.

In case you’re wondering about sources for decor and the room, I’ve listed them here:

Mirror, Tall Vase, Short Vase, & Lamp: Homegoods
Faux Eucalyptus Stems: Target Hearth & Hand
Faux Potted Fern: Target
Books: Cozy White Cottage & Wild Creations
Rug: Boutique Rugs
Bed Skirt: Amazon
Dresser Paint: Fusion Mineral Paint Victorian Lace
Dresser Hardware: Amazon
Wall Color: Winds Breath by Behr

Thanks so much for following along – I hope you found this simple makeover inspiring. Sometimes it’s the simple changes that make a big difference!

Found this inspiring? Pin it!

Blessings,
Melissa

This post contains affiliate links for which I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Please click here for more details. I truly appreciate your support!

This post contains affiliate links for which I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Please click here for more details. I truly appreciate your support!

I lived with it a few weeks and found it to be great for housing my stash of Ghirardelli peppermint chocolate candies. However, the color scheme was really not fitting into my kitchen – I have absolutely no green in my decor and I just wasn’t feeling that blue railing with the burgundy door and green siding.

So I decided to paint it. For some reason I was a little hesitant for fear of “ruining it,” but I figured I had nothing to lose as I wasn’t fully enjoying it “as is.”

Being torn between blue and white, I decided on a very pale blue – “Little Whale” by Fusion Mineral Paint. It reminds me of snow at dusk – white with just a hint of dusty blue.

It took 4 very light coats to cover. Here’s how it looked after the first coat – not great!

Don’t worry about the first coat – or even the second or third – when you’re using Fusion on a ceramic piece. The first coat(s) are really just to adhere to the surface and get a foundation for subsequent layers. If you end up with some uneven spots, wait until it’s dry and lightly sand between coats.

Voile!

Since I already had the paint, the whole thing only cost me $3. It’s amazing what a little paint can do! If you’re not loving an item, don’t be afraid to try a little paint on it. It fits so much better with my decor now:

Unfortunately all my peppermint chocolates are gone…I guess I’ll have to get more of those…

Blessings,
Melissa

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So I did.

Immediately what popped into my head was the famous Luther quote, “Here I stand…” which is totally punny for a doormat but also deeply meaningful.

“Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”

It is debated whether or not Luther actually said these words – some sources include it and some do not, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. Luther was convinced that we are saved by Grace, through faith in Christ alone, and refused to go against what he knew to be true.

How true it still is for us, as we going through challenging times, facing all sorts of falsehood and opposition to truth. This door mat, for me, is more than just a funny pun (although I enjoy the humor of it too) – it is a reminder to myself, a statement to others, and a request to God that I may always hold fast to the Truth:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Tutorial

Below is the tutorial for this mat, and I’ve included the files for my design. However, you can totally make your own design to say whatever you’d like! No circut machine needed!

If you do have a cricut machine, consider yourself blessed. But if you don’t, like me, this is the old fashioned way.

Supplies:

1 Coir Doormat – this is the one I got from Target. This one from Amazon is similar. Mine is 23 x 35″

Digital Design File – download below or design your own

Card stock or printer paper

Printer

Scissors (Love my Scotch titanium precision scissors!)

Ruler

Masking Tape

Black Sharpie

Small craft paint brush (don’t use your favorite – it’ll never be the same)

Black Acrylic Paint (or Fusion Mineral Paint Coal Black – that also worked well!)

Flex Seal Spray, Clear (optional)

Directions:

1. Print letters on card stock or paper. Cut out with scissors. If you use my files, they are scaled for use on a 23 x 35 inch mat. If your mat is a different size, simply adjust the scale (percentage) in your printer’s settings when you print. You may have to experiment to see what size works best for your mat.

2. Use a ruler to find the center of your mat and lay out the letters roughly where you want them. (Can you tell my printer was about to run out of ink?!)

3. Once positioned, use pieces of masking tape rolled up (like little tubes – so the entire outside is sticky) to secure your stencils to the mat. Make any final adjustments to placement as necessary.

4. Trace around each letter with black sharpie. You will have to “dab” at the mat to make a mark – just running the sharpie around the letter in one stroke won’t leave a dark enough line.

5. Using your craft brush and black paint, fill in all the letters up to the edges of your tracing lines. Work the paint down into the coir as much as you can to make the lettering as dark as possible.

6. Let mat dry completely. You can use it as is, or seal it with the flex seal spray for added durability.

My parents and in-laws both want one now, so I’m working on making more of them!

I hope this has inspired you to create your own personalized door mat!

I loved our house, but every time I drove up all I could think was, “It would look SO much better if those shutters were…” fill in the blank.

Major projects like kitchens and bathrooms came and went, babies were born, life kept chugging along and we never painted those silly shutters.

I finally had my mind set – it was going to be black or gray. Those were classic. Those were safe. Except…

…every time I took the kids on a walk, I passed this one house a few blocks from ours. The shutters and front door were a cheerful blue, and I began to notice that I smiled every time I walked past.

And then it clicked – that’s what I wanted – not something safe…

I wanted something that would make me smile every time I drove up to our house.

Blue is certainly still a classic color – just look at many English cottages! I was sold.

You might know by now that I love Fusion Mineral Paint. It is awesome stuff; I’ve used it a bazillion times around our house and have been nothing short of impressed.

But could I use it on vinyl shutters?!

People use it on their front doors all the time – even on a bicycle, as I saw recently! Why not shutters?

Just a note – our roof has a really generous overhang around the perimeter – the windows never actually get a lot of direct rain or snow. This made me even less concerned about durability. I’m confident, though, that even if you don’t have a deep overhang, it would still hold up well.

I’ve used Fusion Mineral on our dining table, black bench, the twice-painted table, and a number of other projects. I’ve scrubbed pasta sauce off that dining table countless times over the last year and it’s held up like a champ. Toys have been scooted across that bench over and over again for well over a year and it has yet to flinch. And that’s without any sort of topcoat. It’s incredible stuff.

To prep, we removed the shutters from the house and gave them a good cleaning with plain old dish soap and water.

We let them dry and power washed the siding while we were at it.

Then I gave them two coats of Fusion Mineral Paint in Liberty Blue.

What a difference even after just one coat! (Still wet in photo.)

Don’t freak out if the paint looks a little like camouflage while it’s drying – it will even out! When I first saw the shutter look like this…

…it was a total “oh no!” moment – but trust me, it doesn’t look splotchy now in the slightest. Fusion Mineral Paint is also self-leveling! Woohoo!

You know what impresses me even more than how well 2 coats covered? It didn’t take away the texture of the shutters! They still have that faux-wood grain visible! Just make sure you don’t get gloopy with the paint – use a light hand and try not to go back over what you just painted, because it’s already starting to dry.

My husband purchased new shutter pins and I painted those too. He rigged up this block of wood with holes to stick the pins in so I could easily paint them. (Make sure you check your pin size before purchasing! They come in different sizes.)

After doing this, I would actually recommend painting the pins after the shutters have been re-hung. As he was hammering the pins in, the paint chipped in a few places, resulting in touch-up work. It’s totally up to you – the block was super convenient, so if you don’t mind touch-up work, then you could do it that way.

It is amazing how much paint can make a difference!

(Okay, well, some landscaping too…)

This would have been a 2-day project except that I ran out of paint. We started first thing in the morning, washed and painted the shutters, then let them dry overnight and put them back up the next day. As it so happened, my paint took most of a week to come in, so my neighbors had to look at a half-done house. (Sorry, neighbors!)

It took 1.5 containers of paint (500ml each) to put 2 coats of paint on 10 shutters – 6 long shutters and 4 short shutters.

I am totally in love with the blue.

It’s taken me a few weeks to get to writing this post, and so far the paint hasn’t had any problems. Even the finished shutters that got left out in the rain before we re-hung them were just fine. I will keep you updated as the seasons go by as to how they hold up, but I feel really confident that they will be A-okay!

Guess what – I smile when I drive up to the house now!