Pink Paint and Hand-Drawn Leaves Made This Old Dresser Look Like a Designer Piece
Cream paint, gold trim, and a three-part mirror gave this old dresser a look far removed from its final coral-pink finish. Its stepped top and five drawers offered space for a design that would turn the fronts into the main attraction.
The artist behind The Little Furniture Room identified it as a mid-century G Plan dressing table dating to around the 1950s–60s. Since someone had painted it before she found it, she chose to reimagine the piece rather than return it to a wood finish.
A custom pink base set the backdrop for leaves drawn with acrylic paint pens. Mint, yellow, blue, peach, and lilac spread across the drawers, while brass hardware and exposed wood legs gave the colorful surface a frame.
Cream paint covered the original wood
Gold-colored borders outlined the drawer fronts and followed the edges of the stepped top. White knobs blended into the cream finish, with the tall folding mirror drawing attention above the cabinet.
Removing the mirror changed the silhouette. The recessed center and raised ends remained, leaving a low piece with room for a lamp and storage on top.
Worn edges showed through the old finish
Close views reveal brush marks, chipped edges, and uneven coverage around the trim. Repainting over that surface would carry those defects into the new finish, so preparation came before the color change.
Sanding exposed the surface beneath
An orbital sander removed the coating from the stepped top, exposing wood grain and patches of filler. The drawer borders visible in the before photos also disappeared from the finished fronts, creating broader surfaces for the artwork.
Running out of paint produced the custom pink
The base color came from Ingilby Paints’ Suffolk Pink mixed with Venetian Red after the first paint ran out during the project.
That blend covers the cabinet, top, and drawer fronts. Pencil outlines then mapped stems and leaves onto the pink, setting the composition before the artist filled the shapes with medium-sized Tooli-Art acrylic paint pens.
Filled shapes and fine lines built the botanical design
Pale green fronds branch across the long drawer, with blue stems, peach leaves, and yellow shoots filling the spaces around them. Some forms use solid color, while others rely on outlines and close-set vein marks.
“My favourite and most satisfying parts of the process,” the artist wrote of adding these details.
Working on the removed drawers let her turn each front as the drawing progressed. A final treatment is shown being applied after the artwork, though the supplied caption does not name the product.
A maker’s mark remained inside
The G Plan stamp sits on the wood inside a drawer, preserving a clue to the dressing table’s origin. Unpainted interiors retain their warm grain beneath the decorated fronts.
Plain sides give the artwork room to stand out
Pink wraps around the cabinet sides without extending the leaf pattern beyond the drawers. From this angle, the contrast between the plain case and decorated front becomes clear.
Exposed wood legs and the shaped lower rail introduce another material beneath the painted body. The open drawer also reveals dovetail joints at its side.
Brass hardware sits within the leaf pattern
Round brass knobs replace the painted ones on the smaller drawers, while two rectangular pulls serve the wide bottom drawer. Their warm finish works with the yellow and peach marks without competing with the blue and mint leaves.
The largest outlined leaf curves beside a pull, its fine veins adding detail within a broad pink shape. Smaller branches fill the surrounding space at different angles.
Raised ends keep the dressing table’s shape intact
The two small upper drawers flank the recessed center, preserving the stepped arrangement from the original piece. A pink lamp occupies one raised end, with a green container and woven basket on the other.
Without the mirror, those levels become part of the furniture’s profile rather than a base for a larger attachment.
Five drawers carry different parts of the composition
The full front shows how the drawing changes across the cabinet. Short branches fit the upper drawers, the middle pair carry horizontal clusters, and the bottom drawer holds the broadest leaves and longest fronds.
Pink rails separate the patterns, allowing each drawer to keep its own composition while the repeated colors connect them.
Before and after show a shift from trim to artwork
The cream version emphasized borders, knobs, and mirror frames. The finished piece moves that attention to the drawer surfaces, where color and drawn detail now define the design.
Its stepped top, storage arrangement, and shaped base remain recognizable, giving the botanical makeover a vintage structure beneath the new finish.
Image credits go to @thelittlefurnitureroom.