I started getting into the habit of naming my furniture by the person who sold me the piece and they town/city they lived in. So, her name is Dominic Waterbury. I found on an online sales site and found that she was perfect for me. I wanted a chest of drawers but I wanted it to be nice looking with simple elegance and I wanted it curved in red mahogany. So, I found her! She was in good condition; her drawers worked fne and her body was sound. However, her finish was lifting in some areas and one of her legs was damaged. Her stain was also uneven in areas so I knew I had to strip it all down. I used a stripper and got all of the finish off. Her body was okay but I wanted to paint it to make it look lighter and I wanted to stain her top and drawer fronts. The drawer fronts, however, were more damaged than I realized and they were a veneer. So, I decided to paint her drawer fronts also at the last minute. The top of the dresser was gorgeous after stripping and sanding. Beautiful red dust filled the air! Red mahogany
After cleaning her with TSP and using wood filler on her legs and gouges and lightly sanding her drawer fronts, I decided to do something I never did before. I left patches of the stain alone on her sides. I wanted to give her a slight shabby chic look. So I painted her body in Sherwin Williams 3377 Chase the Moonlite homemade chalk paint twice and let some of the stain show through. The dresser drawers were painted twice in Sherwin Williams 6326 Henna Shade homemade chalk paint to match the coral color in my bedroom. Then I stained the top of the dresser in Minwax Wood Stain Red Mahogany 225 twice. She looked amazing already! I used two coats of General Finishes Arm R Seal in satin on her body and General Finishes Arm R Seal in semi-gloss on her drawer fronts and top.
I think Dominic looks great in red.
