This lovely painted blue empire dresser are becoming harder and harder to come by. I live in Southern Ontario and for me, it’s difficult to find these classic empire pieces. This particular piece was found in West St. Catharines from a lovely young lady named “Kristen”. She was moving out of her parents’ home into her own place. I remember when I first moved out and how exciting for her and for me for finding this gem at such a great price!
I started by filling all the divits, holes and chipped veneer from the top and drawer fronts of this painted blue empire dresser. Allowing to dry and sand flush gave me a good surface to start this grand transformation. I began by taping off all the areas I didn’t want to get paint on which included the inside of the cabinet where the drawers are housed and the edge of the drawer fronts to get that crisp straight line.
I began by painting the entire surface with two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Napoleonic Blue that resembles this beautiful navy blue colour once dried. I knew I wanted to give it depth but had to think about this one. Would I add dark wax? or would I apply glazing? The wood veneer on the fronts of the drawers ran vertically and so I thought the glazing would work better than the wax for this application.
As with any wax or glaze application, the paint MUST be sealed in some way. Now if you are dark waxing it is recommended that clear wax is used first to seal the paint, which inherently going to darken the colour, then the dark wax can be applied to it and “taken off” as needed if it is too dark or heavy. I would also recommend that if you are going this route that the wax is thinned out by mixing it well with mineral spirits so it is easy to apply and “take off” as well.
As it turned out I decided to seal the paint with a waterbased Minwax Polycrylic. After the sealer dried I decided to use General Finishes Glaze in a brown colour called Van Dyke. This product is already mixed for you and ready to apply. Remember to stir occasionally to ensure the pigment is suspended in the solution to pick up as much colour as possible to apply. I used a chip brush to “paint” on the glaze and then wiped it off to give it a dark and rich finish.
I then reapplied another coat of polycrylic for durability and protection. This painted blue empire dresser deserved one more finishing touch and that was new hardware in this pewter/bronze colour that plays off this rich navy colour. Perfect!
The drawers also received some protective contact paper in this great geometric grey/white pattern.
This piece would make a wonderful console for your front entrance or TV media, as a small buffet or traditional dresser in any bedroom.
Measures: 44″W x 21.5″D x 36″H
Before and After: