She Painted This Dark Wood Welsh Dresser Two Colors but Left One Large Section Bare
Dark wood covered this Welsh dresser from the three cabinet doors and drawers to the open shelving above. Carved details ran across the drawer fronts and upper trim, while raised panels and shaped sides gave the large piece plenty of detail that could have disappeared beneath one paint color.
Instagram creator @ty_paent21 was asked to turn the family heirloom into a statement piece for a new kitchen. She chose Frenchic Paint Boho Berry for the dresser and Dusky Blush for the shelf backing.
One surface went in another direction. Rather than carrying either color across the wide counter, she exposed the wood, creating a break between the berry cabinet base and pink shelving above.
Dark Wood Covered the Entire Dresser
Three drawers sat above three paneled cabinet doors, with open shelves rising from the counter to the carved cornice. The same dark brown finish covered the doors, shelves, backing, counter, and decorative trim.
Wear showed across the counter edge and lower sections, yet the carved arches, vertical grooves, shaped sides, and door panels remained intact.
Wood Counter Breaks Up the Two Paint Colors
The counter now exposes its grain instead of matching the cabinet below. Boho Berry surrounds it across the base, shelf edges, side supports, and upper trim.
Dusky Blush fills the panels behind the shelves. The exposed counter creates a third finish without adding another paint color.
Pink Moves Across the Back of the Shelves
Dusky Blush covers the broad backing while narrow vertical details remain visible beneath the paint. Boho Berry outlines the pink with dark shelf fronts, side supports, and carved trim.
Below the counter, the berry shade continues across all three drawers and cabinet doors, connecting the lower half as one block of color.
Original Carved Details Remain Visible
Paint did not flatten the dresser’s decorative work. Repeating arch-shaped carvings still run across each drawer front, while grooves and raised sections remain across the doors.
Round brass-colored knobs replace the darker knobs seen in the original photo, adding small metal accents against the berry finish.
Exposed Wood Sits Between Pink and Berry
From the front, the unpainted counter forms a horizontal band between the two painted sections. Its grain and rounded edge stand apart from the smooth berry base.
Leaving this surface exposed also keeps some wood visible on a piece that was once brown from top to bottom.
Berry Paint Picks Out the Drawer Carving
The close view shows the repeating carved pattern across the three drawer fronts. One paint color covers both recessed and raised sections, allowing shadows to define the pattern.
Small round knobs sit at the center of each drawer, while the paneled cabinet doors continue the same berry shade below.
Pink Backing Changes the Open Upper Half
The finished dresser retains its tall shelf structure, curved side supports, long ledges, and carved top border. Changing the backing to pink separates that open section from the darker frame around it.
Books, pottery, and branches sit against the new background without covering the vertical detailing inherited from the original dresser.
One Wood Surface Survived the Color Change
The before-and-after view shows the same carved doors, drawers, shelves, and upper frame in both versions. What was once one dark wood finish is now divided into berry cabinetry, a pink shelf backing, and an exposed wood counter.
Keeping that counter bare prevents the makeover from erasing every trace of the dresser’s original wood.
Image credits go to Instagram creator @ty_paent21.