Easy-Glide Dresser + Art Sugar

There are pros and cons to tackling a refinishing project for a dresser that is not actually vintage:

1) Usually the dressers aren’t made of solid wood.
2) Sometimes that means it’s too difficult to remove the drawers for easier transportation
3) On the plus side, they more often than not have smoother gliding drawers than their older counterparts

Like Mr. Easy-Glide here:

I liked his clean lines and tapered legs but he is definitely an assemble-yourself number. All his guts are labeled with little A-G alphabet stickers. But what you loose with newer construction, you gain with functionality. And these drawers slide like a pad of butter on a hot skillet. So he was worth a second look in my opinion - and a second chance to stand out.

My go-to secret for instantly updating a dresser is usually adding legs. But Mr. Easy-Glide already had a decent set of gams.

So I deployed my next go-to trade secret: change the pulls placement. Instead of leaving them dead-center, I changed the pulls and moved them to be perched right at the top of each drawer. It’s a very subtle move, and patching in the old holes meant painting the body, but it allows for a fresher take on a standard box store dresser.

For the body color I chose “Swiss Coffee” - an StyleMutt staple I might add, but usually for wall color. I decided to try it on this piece because 1) I needed a warm white to play well with the wood tones and 2) I had plenty of it lying around ;)

The dresser is actually painted the same color as the wall here - see how beautifully it holds both light and shadow? We love this color because it’s like a living neutral. It’s not devoid of personality just because it’s white.

And yes - that’s a cameo from my cantilever chair flip.

I asked him to step in as a supporting roll to some fall foliage and my new favorite pieces of art: these two Art Sugar abstracts by Caroline Orr.

You know you’re getting happy mail when the box has Sugar in the name. And opening these art pieces when they arrived was like unwrapping some confiscated Halloween candy. I’m talking KING sized bars if you’re picking up what I’m laying down.

Known mostly for their pop art prints, Art Sugar has prints in multiple sizes supporting a myriad of artists - with a portion of each purchase going to charity. Their prices are affordable but if you’re not sure, you can even rent one of their pre-framed pieces for 90 days to make sure you’re in love with the look.

When I saw Caroline Orr’s abstract collection, I didn’t need 90 days. Caroline’s watercolor shapes, whispered handwritings, and torn paper mixed media all spoke to me. And most notably her strong moments of color! I believe that when you bring art into your home, it should elicit a guttural response - otherwise it’s just wall filler.

Together, they were the inspiration of my whole vignette - Tupelo Honey with his mossy greens and pops of blue…

And Etta James with her soft pinks and bold red and orange accents. They demanded a visually striking foliage that could handle their spotlight so what better than some maple branch clippings in peak fall colors?

If you’re shopping for ready-to-hang artwork, check out some of their fun and sometimes cheeky prints.

And if you’re shopping for a fresh dresser, email me for more about our purchase and shipping options.

Easy-Glide Dresser
Now Available for Sale
54"L x 16"D x 34"H
$695


If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com

Pop of Red Dresser

When it comes to repairing old dressers, I’ve seen quite the spectrum of original conditions.  Water damage, bent hardware, chunks missing, splitting veneer, broken legs, and even dog pee.

But this piece...

…this piece might take the cake. 

The previous owners had been keeping it practically unsheltered in their carport for who knows how long.  Exposed to the elements, every inch of the cherry veneer was clinging on for dear life.  As soon as I touched it, the veneer started flaking off like bad dandruff.  Poor thing. The state of this thing meant I couldn’t restore all of it back to its former glory. The drawer fronts, although in need of excessive touch-ups, were mostly salvageable.  But the sides were an irrestorable tragedy that would have to succumb to a good coat of paint. But this meant I had a fun opportunity on my hands… a chance to play with color:

So if paint had to be on the agenda, I chose a sassy red-orange to play off the red cherry tones in the drawers.

The drawers had a lot of chipped veneer around the edges which I painstaking patched and painted to match by hand.  Then I reoiled the wood to bring it back to health like a good moisturizer for cracked hands in winter.

The original wooden pulls were also too damaged to keep so I replaced them with brass whistle knobs that match the brass keyholes in the top drawers.

I was able to keep the original gold capped tapered legs however!

To style it, I used my painter’s pallet and the most exquisite golden foliage I could find.

GAH! This is why it’s my favorite time of year to style with tree branches!!! (I can’t help myself - just see here and here and here).

Pop of Red 8 Drawer Dresser
Now Available for Sale
33.5”W x 18”D x 48”H
$495


If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com

Custom Campaign

Early on into our move, I found a fixer-upper campaign piece for sale on Facebook.  We hadn't unpacked everything and my workshop was nothing more than a junk drawer for empty boxes and miscellaneous curtain rods.  But the price was right (and it was an easy pick up on my way home) so I brought it home without a plan. 

After posting the cabinet in my stories on Instagram, I immediately got a DM from a client who was looking for a cute little storage piece for her living room.  After a couple conversations about colors we landed on an old favorite as our inspiration - this piece from 2016:

Since the paint color from our inspiration piece was a custom mix, I got the paint color-matched to finally get a name: True Taupewood by Behr.

It's a warm shade of greige that reminds me of wet potters clay.  

This color is super moody when it wants to be.

And plays really well with the bright gold tones of the original campaign hardware:

Like these brass recessed pulls.

And corner braces.

Despite what it looks like a first glance, those pulls aren't on individual drawers - they are actually on a pair of doors that open up into a cabinet.

For styling, I broke out my with diy chandelier which sadly doesn't have a home in our new place... yet ;)

This little guy was shipped off to it's new home in Richmond. But, if you are interested in a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com.

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