Paintable Wallpaper Dresser

December 19, 2014 by Ruthie 10 Comments

This was one of the very first DIY projects I ever tackled.  While in college in Colorado my parents and I went to Salvation Army and picked out a bunch of furniture for my new bedroom.  One of the items we picked up was a dresser with a mirror.

Please excuse the mess (haha I didn’t know I’d blog about this one day)

I used that dresser for years and then when my husband and I moved in together we got a TV and replaced the mirror with the TV.  My husband purchased some nightstands on craigslist that were a dark wood/black color.  I wanted to have my dresser match it so I decided to begin one of my very first DIY projects!

I hate to sand so I went to Home Depot and asked the guy what I could use as a good solid primer so I don’t have to sand.  He recommended to me Zinsser Cover Stain Primer.  I removed all the hardware and filled in the holes of the 4 larger drawers with wood filler because I planned to put in new knobs.  Once the wood filler had dried I started priming the dresser.

I am not in love with this primer because as you can see above it goes on a little unevenly.  Plus I just do not like to work with oil based paint!  If I were to do this over again I would definitely use a latex primer and paint.  (and probably sand it haha)

After I was finished priming the dresser I gave it about 12 hours to dry and then I used a spray adhesive to attach the paintable wallpaper to the 4 larger drawers.  I used a paintable wallpaper border from Home Depot.  (I can’t seem to find the exact one I used on Home Depot but they have a lot of options online.)  I choose to use the border instead of the wallpaper because A. it was cheaper and B. it was super close in size to the actual drawer fronts.  I did use a razor blade to cut off a small amount on the top and bottom of the border so it would fit perfectly on the flat surface of my drawers.  I also made sure each piece was identical to the next so that it looked uniform when placed on the drawers.  It stuck pretty well and then I gave it a few hours to dry.  I even liked the look of the white on the paintable wallpaper dresser before I painted it black!  I love the paintable wallpaper!

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use the border on the upper 3 drawers so I had my husband hold up some wallpaper to see if I liked it….I did but I felt it was a little too much.  So I decided against it.

The next day I started to paint the top coat.  I chose Valspar Gloss Black paint.  I believe I only had to do one coat as it had pretty good coverage and was a thicker paint.  On the top of the dresser, I used a foam roller and a paintbrush for the drawers.  I did notice that the paint made the wallpaper bubble a little bit so you may want to do a thinner coat and then a second thinner coat to prevent this from happening.  Although this happened to me when the paint dried the bubbles went away. 🙂  After it was dry my husband helped me drill holes into the drawers for the new knobs.

I chose to use crystal/diamond looking knobs to give it a traditional and classic look.

I love the drama in this piece and it has held up pretty well.  I probably did this 3 years ago.  There are a few minor scratches but nothing a little touch up paint can’t fix!  (or a black sharpie)

Have you ever used paintable wallpaper on a piece of furniture or even on your walls?  How well did it work for you!?

I’m headed off to California this afternoon to celebrate Christmas with my husband’s family so I apologize if I’m MIA for a week or so!  I hope you all have amazing Holidays!