The Ali Dresser

I found this antique dresser from an estate sale. The bones of the dresser were in good shape but cosmetically it was a mess. I loved the curved top, the original key holes and that it was on wheels. And later discovered that it made by a company called Blackler & Epley in the 1920's.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do with her when I brought her home. Those straight lines needed a little zing.. or zag. But, first we needed to say bu-bye to that stencil so I painted the entire piece in Annie Sloan's Old White. And then went to work to create a chevron pattern.

I've made chevron templates before but I found an easier method to paint those chevron stripes. You take your painters tape and stick it at a 45 degree angle onto your piece. The width of your chevron stripe will depend on how much space you place your next line of tape. I just eye balled mine to evenly space mine out. Continue to layer the tape so that it goes in the same direction. You should end up with a bunch of straight lines on a diagonal. Once you've finished one side you do again only this time you go in the exact opposite direction (still at 45 degrees). You'll end up with a bunch of diamond looking patterns on your piece.

You can also visualize where the natural chevron pattern lies. If you take the tape off (some will be under, some will be over) from the diamond pattern it will leave a nice chevron pattern. (See the first row).

Tape off any other areas that you don't want painted (i.e. the sides or bottom, etc). Then, mark which Chevron stripes you want to paint/or don't want to paint with a little piece of tape.

The 2013 Color of the Year is green. I love the way Annie Sloan's Antibes Green looks with dark wax and thought it would be perfect for this little dresser. Once I was taped off, I hit the paint can. After a few coats, I distressed it and protected the piece with Annie Sloan's clear & dark wax and added some new knobs. She turned out like this...