Painting a dresser

[vicky whitworth]

Hello,
I have a modern kitchen dresser/cupboard made of solid soft wood. It was painted when I bought it in something very flat and rubbed back to look slightly 'distressed'. I now want to re-paint it in F&B Hardwick White I think it is. Presumably, these days a water-based eggshell. It's currently a very pale cream.

I am re-decorating the whole kitchen so I'll need to move it forward. Not only to paint the wall behind it but also to remove what appear to be three decayed mice from the tiny gap between dresser and wall :wink:

I can't take it completely out of the kitchen and can only move it forward enough to get behind it to paint. The kitchen was made to fit the dresser and not the other way round so it's hard up against the ceiling. I'd prefer, therefore, not to have to rub it down before painting but is that just shoddy worksmanship and weak excuses and will the paint not key because of this? or could I just slap on another coat of paint?

 

[Moo]

Oh, come on, chaps. Someone must have some advice for poor Vicky!

 

[Sonyaclegg]

Annie Sloan chalk paint. No prep required. Not even sanding. Two coats and then finish with wax.

 

[JoceAndChris]

That sounds lovely Vicky, and you must be up and about to be considering redecorating How are you and how did that hen get along?

I like the Annie Sloan paint too though I've never used it on wood- sounds good.

I'd say a warm wash with sugar soap would alleviate the need for any sanding and provide enough key. Rinse well too.

 

[vicky whitworth]

Thank you Sonya and Joce. That's really helpful.
Thank you for asking, Joce. I think I'm on the mend. Five weeks in plaster and thought I'd be fine immediately it came off. Five more weeks later and I can walk - with a hobble - and got in and out of the bath this evening without the use of a chair. Problem has been tendons and ligaments in ankle and not the broken bone. Each day it's a bit better but slow progress, and so unfit now. Have had mirror therapy on it, which was the turning point. Google it. It's done the trick for me.

Big Bird is still with us - just. She's no better, not eating or drinking and just stands lethargically and makes a pitiful sound. Can't understand how she keeps going. Poor bird. We should cull her but Little Hen would miss her.

Reading an excellent book - The Welsh Cottage - bought at St Fagin's Museum last week. There's a bit quoting a builder from 1780s talking about the different type of lime mortar mix depending on your 'class'. To quote...Gentlemen of small fortunes may use for their inside work a mix of half loam, half lime. Clergymen may make a mix strong enough to last their term. This presents a whole new dilemma. First establish your class using the BBC class questioonaire, then prepare your mix

How are you now, Joce? Fighting fit again? Vicky

 

[LadyArowana]

Problem has been tendons and ligaments in ankle and not the broken bone. Each day it's a bit better but slow progress, and so unfit now. Have had mirror therapy on it, which was the turning point. Google it. It's done the trick for me.

Glad you are released from the plaster casing, I'm sure it will take a while to get back to where you were, which is the annoying part. Interesting about the mirror therapy, happy it's working for you, funny things brains.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh poor Vicky, what a long slog back to mobility and fitness. Great that you're getting there though, and by gosh, you appreciate it so much more when you're at at last out and about doing the things that make you happy. I'm really well thanks, able to go for runs and do 12 hours a day on the house/garden projects, which I wasn't able to do pre op.

Very sorry about Big Bird, I usually take them to the vet at this point - it's about £13, here, to get them gently put to sleep. It sounds silly but it's very very distressing watching a bird dying over a long period, and the vet supplies a dignified and painless end to the suffering of your loved pet. I recently found an excellent website on disease, and particularly fascinating are the forms of Mycoplasma and their awful effects - I'm battling it right now in my flock.
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/respiratory-disease/index.aspx

I hope that Big Bird won't continue too much longer in this awful way.

Fascinating about the lime mixes for the different social strata!

And back to the topic in hand, I used Annie's Chalk Paint on wood yesterday- very nice, as Sonya says, and easy to wipe up, which is good, as Horry jumped on the wet windowsill and then put little white paw prints everywhere.

 

[Moo]

I'm tempted to use Annie Sloan paints on my soon-to-be-installed bookcases; everyone seems to rave about them. But I'm mildly curious as to why, if they're so good, anyone uses anything else.
Apparently they can be used on kitchen cupboards, walls, ceilings and floors as well as furniture!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Yes, I just used it on old lime plaster with a mix of finishes and the same tin on the joinery around the window. It's so fast drying you don't know where you've been. An old fashioned finish to it, matt, showing the brush strokes. I wonder if it will be long lasting? On her website she suggests finishing furniture with two coats of soft wax to protect the paint and bring out a sheen. The architrave round my window is never going to be handled so I'm not going to bother with that, but for kitchen furniture, I would.