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Chalk Painting Me Malm

Does the title of this post incriminate me….that I’ve been watching old episodes of Raising Hope while blogging?!  Guilty…guilty as charged.  You caught the tater (equally shameful Ron White they call me Tater Salad plug).  Anywho…after half-assing the dresser paint job for the stenciling post back here…like literally half-painting the dressers….I finally finished the paint job on a pair of Ikea Malm dressers with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Pure White.

Chalk Painted Ikea Malm Dressers

This post is loooong overdue.  Like I’ve been a bad blogger and haven’t posted in over a week kind of long overdue.  But crazy things are going on behind the scenes here at the Roost which we need to fill you in on.  Maybe next week?  A brain dump on Monday?  Given my current blogging pace, more like next decade!

Back to the dressers.  I broke out the half-used quart of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, the same stuff I had used for my first chalk painting foray on our living room end table, to finish the paint job.  I also must note my new infatuation with Martha Stewart’s craft brushes.  Love them!  They’re small, comfy to hold, and produce one superior painting finish.  I’m not gonna lie…I painted both dressers with this little brush.  Yeah, it took me a couple of hours longer to paint than it would have with a more normal paint brush since it’s smaller than most brushes, but it was soooo simple to wield around nooks and crannies while dresser painting.  Worth it!

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint In Pure White

The painting process was simple.  I pulled both dressers out from their home in our bedroom nook and started first with the front frames, then moved on to the sides and tops, and then onto each drawer.  It took two coats to get the nice, even coverage I was looking for.  I didn’t want to distress these guys, just turn them a matte white.

Chalk Painting Ikea Malm Dressers

Once every part was painted, I waxed the whole thing (a full chalk painting tutorial including waxing can be found back here) and started to move the dressers back into place.  We took a few moments to shim the dressers but alas…our poor unsquare unlevel old home got the best of us and after what felt like an hour’s worth of shim adjusting, we gave up.  A smidge of crookedness never hurt anyone, right?!

Chalk Painting Ikea Malm Dressers

And then back in the drawers went for a much more appropriately finished dresser nook.  It’s so sad but this picture makes me want to paint Goose’s room…I mean…the guest bedroom across the hall.  Maybe white?  Or just something a bit more muted rather than the in-your-face HELLO!  I’M NAVY walls screaming at you.  But another day…focus Angie…focus.  Ooooh…cookies!  Focusing is not my strong suit.  I think I take after our dog.

Chalk Painted Ikea Malm Dressers

It’s been a couple of weeks since we finished painting the dressers and I have to admit, I’m still smitten with the finish.  I was worried it wouldn’t be durable enough or would show dirt…lots and lots of dirt since we always seem to be living in a pile of dust and Goose fur…mostly Goose fur.  But it’s staying nice and clean and smooth, other than a little wear and tear along the edges where the makeup mirror pops up on the skinnier Malm.

Chalk Painted Ikea Malm Dressers

The original finish on these Ikea pine-colored Malm dressers has been something we’ve wanted to cover up since day one.  Although it’s taken us nearly four years to finally tackle this project.  Colby hated the pine…like wanted to high-five it in the face kind of hatred.  Now that they’re white, we both have turned our high-fiving madness into love.  Although I think the poor dressers need a little more jazzing up.  Hardware maybe?!

Chalk Painted Ikea Malm Dressers

I can’t deny that I’ve been drooling over these guys from Schoolhouse Electric for a while now :

Dresser Makeover Hardware Options From Schoolhouse Electric
  1. Oval Bin Pull currently on sale for $7.20 each
  2. Butler Card Holder also on sale for $5.40 each (although the thought of labeling my underwear drawer kind of weirds me out, although it would make panty raids sooooo much easier)
  3. Hexagonal Glass Knob coming in the cheapest at $3.00 each
  4. Offset Drawer Pull for a whopping $10.00 each

But when it boils down to it, I’m sure I’ll end up schlepping over to Hobby Lobby and picking up some fun hardware in their home decor aisle for much cheaper.  While I do love these guys, I’m envisioning two pulls/knobs on each big drawer and one on each small drawer, meaning 16 pieces of flair hardware.  So to hardware up will cost anywhere from a modest $48 for the glass knobs to $160 for the offset drawer pulls.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t even pay $160 for the dressers!  Yowsers!  So I’m gonna pull on my thrifty pants and see what I can find.  I may just be heading to Hobby Lobby now since I’m on a disco ball quest.  Does anyone know where I can find one?!

Pssst….Random side note: I know I haven’t been posting much these last couple of weeks, but I have been working on the blog behind the scenes in redesigning the blog theme/layout.  So things may look a little…oh…who am I kidding…ALOT wonky in the next week or so while I work it all out.  Please bear with me…I promise it will look good someday!  Maybe…oh please God let me be able to make it look good without losing what little remains of my sanity!  Angie…out!

Comments

  1. It looks very nice ,Angie. Where did you find the calla-lilies that on the top of the large dresser?

  2. Hi Angie! I have just been googling whether or not you can paint IKEA Malm furniture with chalk paint, as all the tutorials I can find refer to using emulsion but I REALLY want that chalky finish on my furniture! I can across your blog – can I ask, how did the finish hold up just using chalk paint and wax? The other tutorials (for emulsion) refer to sanding, using primer, and using acrylic-based stuff to finish it off, which I don’t want to do! I don’t want shiny furniture! So please please tell me this held up for you?! Thanks! 🙂

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Angie's Roost Campbell Family in front of home in 2021

Hi there! We're the Campbells. We traded in Maine city living for the country life in Vermont. You'll find us here fixing up a circa 1781 historic home, growing our own food, and filling this home with the memories and things that matter. Read more about us...

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