Trash to Treasure Painted Dresser

A few months ago I was driving through the neighborhood when I spotted a dresser in someone's trash pile.  I grabbed my Dad {and his minivan ... ahem} and snagged a great piece of furniture.  It's amazing what people throw away!  {I think in my neighborhood they're quite sure someone will come and scoop it up before the garbage truck ever arrives.} 

I gave it a paint job and this trash to treasure dresser is a new favorite piece of furniture in my dining room.

The dresser started like this.  Not bad at all, huh?  It had a few scratches, some ill-placed stickers, and two missing knobs.  Besides that, it was the sturdiest {and possibly the most expensive} dresser I've owned.

Knowing that I would paint the dresser and then distress it, I first painted some edges brown ...

... and then painted a bit of green over it.

Once the edges were dry, I made a batch of DIY chalk-finish paint {you can see that post and the recipe I used here} and applied a couple of coats {the color is Haystack by Martha Stewart}.

When I was planning this project, I asked my twitter followers if they had any tips and I got a great tip from Dora the Restorer {isn't that a great twitter handle?}.  She suggested I sand between coats and before applying the wax.  I've always been nervous about doing that {for fear I'll scrape off half my paint} but I sanded with an extra-fine sanding sponge and it made all the difference!  It gave me such a smooth finish.

I distressed the edges a bit more heavily ...

... then rubbed it with Minwax Paste Finishing Wax and added some glass knobs.

It looks great in my dining room and it's the perfect place to store my tablecloths and heirloom linens {to see more of the heirloom linens, click here}.

Not bad for a curbside find, huh?

I'm linking to Organize and Decorate Everything, Ginger Snap Crafts, Miss Mustard Seed, Jennifer Rizzo