Marble Top Chest of Drawers

I found this marble top dresser on Facebook Marketplace back in January. It was a bit of a drive to go pick it up, but it was totally worth it because the piece was gorgeous.

I liked the wood of the dresser, but it was really orange.

I wanted to tone everything down and take it in a more neutral direction, so I decided to paint it using General Finishes "Driftwood" Milk Paint.

Driftwood is a gorgeous mid-tone gray and it matched the gray veins in the marble on the top of the dresser perfectly.

I started off by having my Mom prep the piece according to General Finishes recommendations. I'm sure you've seen this video by now, but just in case you haven't, here are the steps she followed:

Once the piece was cleaned and prepped, I started teaching Mom how to apply General Finishes Milk Paint. Up until that point, she was so familiar with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint, and the application technique is quite different. GF Milk Paint is much thicker and it's best to load more paint on the brush and lay it down quickly than to continue brushing it back and forth. It's formulated to set up quickly, so the more it's brushed, the more it will become tacky and you'll get noticeable brushstrokes.

About half-way through the dresser, I checked in with Mom and she was struggling a little bit. I gave her some tips and she finished it off beautifully! I have to say, it's really hard to switch gears if you've been using one kind of product for so long.

I'm more familiar with using GF Milk Paint, so I took over and Mom started working on a gorgeous sheet music dresser using MMS Milk Paint. She was instantly in her element!

The Driftwood colored Milk Paint adhered beautifully and I gently sanded with a 220 sanding pad in between my two layers. The result was a very smooth finish. My original plan was to apply a lighter gray on all of the details on the piece to make a two-toned effect, but after painting one of the beautiful wooden handles, I stepped back and realized I really didn't like it.

I waited until the lighter gray dried and reapplied a coat of Driftwood to get everything back to the way it was. I wanted to do something to the dresser to highlight the details, but I didn't want it to be too "loud". That's when General Finishes Winter White Glaze Effects came into play.

Glazes give you the same look as colored or tinted waxes. So as a comparison, you could paint a piece with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint, seal it with clear Furniture Wax, and then apply White Wax over top for a white washed look.

You can follow a similar process using water-based products in the General Finishes collection. You paint on your Milk Paint color of choice, seal with clear High Performance Topcoat, and then apply Glaze Effects of your color choice on top to get a decorative effect. And just to be clear, you should not use wax products over top of General Finishes Milk Paint. Their glazes come in all sorts of colors and I picked white for mine. Here is a video that teaches you how to apply glazes.

Once you've applied your glaze of choice, wiped it back and allowed it to completely dry, you need to seal it to protect the finish. I sealed my dresser with High Performance Topcoat in Satin.

The result is exactly what I was hoping for - definition without loudness!

The look is soft and wispy, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

The Winter White glaze settled into all of the recessed areas and now your eye goes right to the beautifully carved handles. I gently sanded the edges of the handles and the dresser body to add a little bit of rustic charm.

Even the keyholes are defined now.

From a distance, it's really lovely.

The piece now had a lovely neutral finish with a soft white washed effect. It matches the marble top perfectly.

And it paired well with my antique mirror and cotton wreath.

The chest of drawers will be coming with me to the Spring Barn Market at Pheasant Run Antiques on Saturday, April 28th from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. It will be available for $275 if you are interested. It measures 41.25 inches wide, 21 inches at its deepest point, and 31 inches tall. It has a lovely curved shape, so it protrudes to 21 inches at its deepest.

All of my pieces that I'm bringing to the Spring Barn Market are not for sale yet, you can put items on hold. My policy is that you can place items on hold by sending me an email or contacting me through my social media feeds. I'll hold your item from 10 AM until 12 noon on the day of the event. If you haven't come to pick it up by then, I'll put a price tag on it and it will be available for purchase by the public.

I'm super excited to share more pieces with you soon! I've been working on three at a time, so this lovely gray dresser is one of a few that are ready for photo shoots.

If you like this look, you can replicate it by purchasing the GF products I used from my booth at Morgantown Market.