Beautiful Cement?

In this case? Yes! I have heard so many good things about Behr paint and  I've been dying to try it! I walked into Home Depot with the intention of trying Behr and walked out with Martha Stewart paint! I love it!!

I picked up this little beauty off of CL a few weeks back.  I was slightly hesitatant when I saw it up close, but I could see the potential in it so I bought it.  Here is the before.

The reason I was so hesitant is because the back of the dresser was not real wood.  I hate buying pieces that aren't solid wood, but I loved the uniqueness of this piece so I went for it.  One time won't hurt anything!

I began by removing the organizer on the interior.  It was a little wobbly so I threw on some Gorilla glue and re-hamered some loose nails.

The lower portion of the desk was made of the same cheap stuff as the back of the piece.  I hated it so I used my jigsaw to cut a new piece.  I measured it by laying the old piece on top of my wood.  I used Gorilla glue and nails to put it in place them primed the entire piece after sanding it.

The entire time I had envisioned this piece in white with an aqua interior.  Unfortunately this dresser/desk had other ideas!  Even with primer and paint the wood kept bleeding through.

In the future I think I'll use oil-based primers if I want to do white.  Until then though I ended up with gray!  I thought about doing gray and yellow, but the aqua-lover in me won and I went with gray and blue.

While the paint was drying I cleaned up the hardware.  I tried the whole vinegar thing and it didn't help at all.  I ended up using my secret weapon!

**Hardware cleaning tip: Bar Keepers Friend**

If you've never heard of it, Bar Keepers Friend comes in a container like Comet.  I just poured it on my wet hardware and scrubbed HARD!  It didn't remove all of the scum, but it removed most of it and left the hardware looking antiqued.

Wear gloves when cleaning your hardware if you don't want creepy snake-like peeling sking for days.

I spray painted the hinges and screws with Rustoleum's Hammered Gold.

Here she is!

The exterior color is Martha Stewart's Cement Gray.

The interior color is Martha Stewart's Aegean Blue.

Cheers!!