Dresser Project (Part II): Blue

I've finished the second dresser. It's similar to the previous dresser, but instead of the sides of the drawers being red, these are blue. I'm now dubbing the previous dresser as "Red" and this one as "Blue."

I'm not that great with sanding. I think I've removed everything and after wiping everything down, it's pretty clear that some are better than others. However, I'm going from a black stain to a black stain, so I'm not too concerned. (When my sister restained a matching bookshelf a few years back, she went from black to a light brown, so she spent hours sanding.) I just needed it to have something to hold on to.

A little too much black still left. This is after the stain conditioner dried.
Meh... not too concerned.

Ready for painting!

I'm also working slightly differently on this one than the last: I used a stain conditioner to start and I'm also using foam rollers to apply the stain. What a difference!

I'm already impressed with the conditioner...

The first time it seemed to take forever to get everything stained. The roller made is zip along... and I love how the finish looks! I had three heavy (possibly too heavy) coats of stain on Red, I had three light coats on Blue and I think it looks better.

Naturally, I forgot to take pictures of the painting as it went along... you'll have to scroll down for the finished product.

For the sides, I made sure to tape the heck out of the drawers for spraying... 

And then covered all my staining with paper. 

I used a coat of Rust-Oleum Flat Gray Primer for the base.

Which coated nicely. 

For color, I used Rust-Oleum again. I know it says it has primer in it, but I wanted to make SURE it was done right.

I was tempted to try two coats in one afternoon, but didn't want to rush it. So, a second coat went on the next night to make sure it cured properly.

Here is the finished product:

The drawers curing...

With the original hardware.

I don't think I have a shot from the front. 

I think the black stain turned out well.

Here are a few shots of my staining and spray stations... I was far more careful with the spraying of paint than I was with the staining. That poor table will have to be redone if I'm ever to use it for anything else again. However, for the foreseeable future, it's a workbench in my garage!

The gold chairs in the background will possibly be used for a future painting project. My grandmother used them as extra chairs at her house. They are gold and actually really nice. I'm thinking of painting them another color and distressing them so the gold comes through. But that's a distant project.

Spray Station: definitely high-tech.

Lessons Learned:

• Definitely use foam rollers for paint and staining. It makes the project move SO much faster and it goes on really nice. 
• Stain conditioners make the process go much smoother. The whole staining process was much easier.
• Keep taking those pictures!