Antique dresser make over

So my first order of business once I decided to decorate my home was to pick a room. I picked the office. The hubby is a mover and we acquire furniture on a regular basis. There was an antique dresser/armoire that he acquired during a move. I didn't like it. I usually have an eye for furniture and I can envision a piece before it't done. With this particular piece I had no inspiration what so ever. I thought it was ugly, and yes it was made of real wood, but it still felt weak and the hardware were the original wood knobs. I wanted to donate or sell it but the hubby saw potential so we opted to keep it. I agreed to redo it and put it in my office.

This was the original piece in my garage. I didn't take a picture of it earlier and I wish I had. This photo was taken once we had started on the drawers already. But the original finish was that ugly dark brown you see. It also had thick areas of clear varnish that were all over it from someone who attempted to refinish it at one point. It was disgusting. 

If you saw my office/craft room make over you know I was going for a glam look with black and gold accessories and pale pink walls. Therefore since I had no emotional attachment to the piece what so ever, I decided to go bold and do a high gloss black paint. I considered spray painting it, but as I was shopping I decided to take a chance on the Rustoleum high gloss black enamel. 

Working with this paint is like working with tar. It applied more easily with a foam brush than a typical paint brush. It applies best in thin coats, sort of like stain. If you apply it too thick it may drip or cause an uneven pool of paint. Treat it like stain applying with one foam brush and wiping off excess with an extra one. It also takes a few days to cure. It will be dry by the morning for sure, but since the paint is sort of thick and gooey, it really needs to dry hard before enamel is safe to put objects on with out making dents. 

Enough of that this was the end product without the hardware.

It looks even better in person! It shows some of the wood grain like a stain would but it's really high gloss and smooth. 

The original hardware were old wooden knobs. I spray painted them gold to match the office but they just didn't look right. So I opted for silver knobs that had just a hint of gold tone to them and I think it looks stunning!

It looked good, too good for my office. And since I had practically no bedroom furniture I decided to use it. I had a rinky dink little black dresser that I was using temporarily. It was already painted black but had stains from makeup and markers had made it ugly. So I wiped it down and gave it a coat of the Rustoleum enamel I had left over. It actually worked out for the best since the small dresser was just the right size for my small office. 

Doesn't it look nice and shiny? 

Leave comments and tell me what you think :D 

Feel free to ask me any questions about the refinishing process.