One of my favorite things to do is take something that most people see as ugly and make it something special and beautiful! And that’s what I did with a dingy old dresser I bought off craigslist for $35. Let’s take a look.
PS- Please try to ignore all the junk in the background. Ida Red is working on getting rid of some stuff.
This is actually a whole set-up I was working on, so you’ll also get to see some fun jewelry display ideas!
Here is a drawer before.
I laid some lace over top and sprayed some paint.
And I ended up with this!!!
I love how it turned out! I love lace in general but this painted pattern makes my heart go pitter patter!
Ida Red has a ton of necklaces and I needed an attractive way to display them. So, I used the back of an armoire, attached some silvery fabric, and screwed on some knobs. I love the full look of all these beautiful necklaces on display. This is a great way to organize your jewelry at home too!
On the table top I arranged a couple of cake stands, candle sticks, and a gold platter to beautifully display other lovely items.
A great way to hold bracelets- use old candle sticks!
So, let’s do a final before and after.
Before
After
Now, Tim would like to play a friendly game of Where’s Waldo(Tim).
And one more.
So, what do you think? Do you love the lacy look with the gorgeous knobs and necklaces?
WOW! I never would have expected it to come out so great, and I feel like it would have been MUCH faster than refinishing and repainting the whole piece. It looks very Anthropologie… Great idea Kara!
What a great idea with the lace! Love it.
The last Waldo was a little tricky!
so cool! this would be a great look for drawer liners also. Very pretty
I don’t think you could be anymore creative! I love it what a fantastic idea!
This is one of my favorite ideas of yours yet! I’m a lace/doily freak myself 🙂 So fun!
i love this! what color spray paint did you use?
LOVE that dresser!
Looks really pretty!;)
A great idea.
Lovely greetings…
http://pudel-design.blogspot.com/
Love love love this. I will definitely be looking at dressers and such differently! You rock!
The lace look is amazing, I will be stealing that you are a genius.
The lace is beautiful and I can’t believe it’s almost effortless. What a wonderful idea and I can’t wait to try this myself.
AlbeeLucky.blogspot.com
I’ve never really been a jealous person until now. Amazing, amazing, amazing. <3
I’ve been blog stalking you for a while now, and I am so impressed by your creativity! Lace for the dresser! Very original! Love seeing your projects!
You really have an eye for seeing what is possible. LOVE the dresser and love the necklaces too.
I love this!!! I can not believe how easy it is. This isn’t really my husband’s taste, but that means that I could easily work it into the guest room! How cool! Thanks for sharing. I have been reading your blog for a while and I enjoy all the new things you come up with. Thanks!
Thanks ladies for your comments! I am so glad you all like it! And you can totally do this on your own- so I would love to see pictures if anyone tries it out!!!
Laina- I used a silver spray paint. I started with gold, but it wasn’t quite enough contrast for me. I wanted you to be able to read that it was lace from a ways away.
Love love love this idea! Im going around my house looking at my furniture and armed with a spraycan and lace 😉 Had to share this idea at my blog, giving you and your site full credit of course!
Thanks for an amazing blog and love all your creativity 🙂
Best wishes from Iceland!
I am not usually a fan of lace, but I am in love with this idea! Beautiful! Love the knobs and candlesticks too!
Simply divine. This is just gorgeous…I love how you left the rest of the dresser alone, just paying attention to the drawers. The contrast is fantastic.
I love this look. However, the cheap dresser i have that i want to redo isn’t real wood, i’m not sure how to explain it. It is also white. I can still paint it but what color would you suggest i paint over the lace? Or should i paint over the dresser another color other then white & then pick a color to paint the lace pattern? I wouldn’t be anonymous but i don’t have an account on this website.
I would love to see a step by step DIY posting on this project!
This is gorgeous.
Oh. My. Word. I couldn’t love this any more. My heart wouldn’t be able to stand it! Thank you so much for this awesome idea! I really hope to implement it someday. If I do, I’ll let you know!
You have a gift. 🙂
Wow! i totally think it would come out just as absolutely amazing as it has!!! Well done – it is stunning 🙂
i love the lace look!
Did you use the same piece of lace for each drawer? If so, how did you prevent the wet paint from transferring to the next drawer? Thanks!
This is so beautiful! Cant wait to try this in my room 🙂
Hi Kara:) I blogged about this idea and gave your site credit with a link. One of my readers wanted to know….”How many times can you use the lace though? Is it a big mess?”….
Was the paint acrylic based and did you rinse out the lace piece each time? Just wondering:)
http://mytategallery.blogspot.com/
I love the lace and knobs — they look just fantastic!
WOW! That looks amazing! The crazy thing is, I have the exact same dresser that I bought on craigslist for $30! I Painted mine black, tossed the three middle drawers, and use it as my tv console. 🙂 Nice work!
that guys hiding behind the table scared the hell out of me =)) lol
lovely!!!
Hi Kara! I love this dresser! I found you on pinterest and am going to share you project today for my blog series Spray Painters Anonymous {with proper link back, of course}! Stop by and check it out!
Have a great day!
Tiffany {Living Savvy}
what color spray paint did you use?! fabulous! -amy
My mom recently did something very similar with old vintage knobs – I think it really gives a personal feel to all of our hoards of jewelry 🙂
http://creativityinthewilderness.blogspot.com/2011/12/home-made-presents-are-best.html
I absolutely love this! I want to recreate it for my bedroom. My color scheme is cream and purple. We dont have much so I need to start DIYing with the great ideas you have inspired me to do! We need a head board too. So can you maybe give some other color combo ideas for this lace dresser? I just might not find a wood dresser that looks nice enough and will have to paint the whole thing and then add the lace. Now that I have seen yours and love it so much I cant see past that to make my own :(! Im trying to be creative but need help haha!
Franziska – it really does make a difference, I will check it out. Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful!! We are going to try this out hopefully this wknd. Cant wait to see the turn out. Just wondering, did you use the same lace piece on each drawer? Or did you use a new piece every time? I would greatly appreciate any tips, as I will be trying this tomorrow. Thank you!!
You can definitely use the same piece of lace. I would let it sit on the drawer for just a few seconds after I finished spraying before I removed it. Then I would let it set a few minutes before I placed it on the next drawer. I don’t really have any more tips because it is a really simple, fun project!
Send some pics of dresser when you are done. Can’t wait to see it!
We are done with our dresser. We love it! Thank you for inspiring me to make a simple dresser look FABULOUS!! Where do I post the picture?
Hey Jeddie!!! I’m so glad you took it on! You can e-mail me pics or post them on my Kara Paslay Designs facebook wall! Great job!!! 🙂
Hey Kellie,
With cream and purple, I would definitely go with gold as the accent color. For the main dresser color you could go with an eggplant purple for a dramatic look or a light gray for a more subdued look. Hope that helps! I’d love to see it when you’re finished!
I have seen this technique used on hot rods from the 60’s and 70’s but never thought about using it on furniture. Excellent!
I have seen this technique used on hot rods from the 60’s and 70’s but never thought about using it on furniture.
Here is a link to a great car hood that has been lace painted. Perhaps it could add additional inspiration.
http://www.ruffrodders.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=73381&stc=1&d=1252771842
Well Captain Halloween, that is about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! Thanks so much for sharing the photo. I have never seen that on a car, but I love it! I also love that it looks very tough- like a guy could totally drive that car! Would you mind sharing the photo on our kara paslay designs FB page? Love seeing unique and inspiring things like this!
Hi,
This is absolutely beautiful- what a fantastic idea!!! I am re-decorating my room- and have been struggling to find furniture I like which is affordable!!! I was wondering though, do you think it would work over mirrored drawers?? Using sliver spray paint?
Thanks
whoa, totally pinning that. Love it! A friend posted it on my FB wall (lots of people post stuff and I might look at it and go “eh” but this one was genius. If you get a chance, I’d love for you to share this over at our Trash 2 Treasure Party! http://kammyskorner.blogspot.com/2012/02/trash-2-treasure-tuesday-18.html
I love this idea so much! I saw it on a Pinterest board, but only saw the poto with the lace over the drawer. I HAD to see the finished result and I’m so glad I did! I guess you could take this idea and run with it! Thank you so much for sharing this idea and inspiring me to create something. I don’t know WHAT, yet, but SOMETHING.
I think you could use a “etching” spray paint to get the effect you are wanting. And I think it would look great!!! I would love to see pictures if you decide to do it. Regular spray paint would probably scratch off, but you could test it on a small mirror first.
Well thanks Kammy! Glad you like it! I’ll try to share it this Tuesday!
Claire- I’m so glad you clicked over! 🙂 You can definitely apply this idea to all sorts of materials! I’d love to see your version if you decide to create something inspired from this!
Can you tell us what color spray paint you used? It looks silver or metalic.
Thanks!