Refurbishing a New Dresser with StencilGirl® Stencils

I have seen many DIY projects with stencils on furniture, and very recently, I finally had an opportunity to use them. We were quickly renovating our condo to put on the market and the nursery dresser was showing some wear after removing the drawer safety locks. 

I wanted something neutral and geometric to go with the modern style of the dresser. One of my favorite StencilGirl® stencils, is Mary C. Nasser's Geometric Sky stencil. I love the triangles and decided this would be a perfect choice for the drawers. 

After removing the safety locks, we sanded down the drawer fronts to create a scuffed up surface to paint onto. This is an important step. I actually had to do it several times in order to get the paint to stick. 

I rolled two coats of white acrylic paint onto the drawer fronts and allowed to dry between each coat. 

I placed the stencil down and extended the edges so that as I rolled grey paint over the stencil, the edges of the stencil wouldn't show. I decided to apply the paint lightly so the pattern would appear more distressed.

I allowed the paint to dry and then added a lighter layer of white over the grey to tone down the contrast and pull everything together. 

I was so thrilled to bring new life into a perfectly good piece of furniture and help it look "new" again. 

Hello! My name is Megan Whisner Quinlan. I have been art journaling and book binding for about 20 years. However, I took a 10 year break from paper arts when I had my first 2 children. About 5 years ago, I came back into journaling after some big life changes, including 2 more children. Journaling had always been a part of my life, especially to work things out in life on paper. When I first started out, I really only focused on making books by hand and some basic collage and stamping. I was intimidated by the amazing art journaling artists out there who could create elaborate, mixed media spreads.  When I came back to journaling after such a long break, I decided that I was going to really push myself to learn all the techniques I had been too afraid to try.  Painting and drawing have really allowed me to find so much joy in my creative process, and I now almost exclusively create mixed media every day. I feel excited to have joined the art journaling community and you can find me on Instagram @Megan_Whisner_Quinlan or on Youtube: Megan Whisner Quinlan.