She Took an Old French Provincial Dresser From Cream to High-Gloss Mint
A Dixie French Provincial dresser already had the details that make this furniture style stand out: bowed drawer fronts, a scalloped apron, carved feet, and ornate pulls. The problem was the aged cream finish, darkened grooves, and decades of wear covering those details.
Kayla Payne of Painted by Kayla Payne refinished the dresser as part of a bedroom set purchased by her friend Kelsey for her daughter’s room. Instead of changing the dresser’s French Provincial features, she used a high-gloss mint finish and gold paint on the existing hardware.
Curved Drawers and Ornate Hardware Defined the Original Dresser
The dresser came from a Dixie French Provincial bedroom set, with three columns of drawers arranged behind a curved front. A cream finish covered the body, with darker lines emphasizing the molding around each drawer and the shaped base.
Decorative metal pulls remained on every drawer, while cabriole-style feet continued the curves from the dresser front down to the floor. Those elements stayed in place through the makeover rather than being replaced with modern hardware or simplified trim.
Years of Buildup Had Settled Into the Grooves
Cleaning required more than wiping down the broad surfaces. Kayla mixed TSP with hot water and scrubbed the furniture, paying attention to the narrow grooves around the molded edges and carved sections.
The detailed construction that gives French Provincial furniture its shape also creates places for dirt to collect. Cleaning those recesses prepared them for the smooth painted finish planned for the dresser.
Drawers Came Out Before Surface Preparation
Removing the drawers exposed the dresser frame and made the repeated curved construction easier to see. Dents and dings were filled with Bondo Glazing Putty before sanding began.
Kayla used an orbital sander with 220-grit discs on accessible flat surfaces and a sanding sponge for the drawers and curves that the power sander could not reach. The goal was a smooth base for high-gloss paint rather than stripping the dresser to bare wood.
Sanding Covered Every Drawer and the Dresser Top
With the drawers removed, each one could be sanded apart from the dresser body. The large top also received attention, including filled areas where dents or surface damage needed correction.
This preparation mattered because a glossy finish reflects light across the surface and makes dents, scratches, and uneven areas easier to see once paint goes on.
Primer Created One Base Across the Entire Bedroom Set
The dresser was one piece from a larger Dixie bedroom set, and Kayla primed the furniture outdoors after sanding. Drawers, dressers, and the other pieces received the same white base before moving on to color.
After the primer dried, she sanded the surfaces again with a fine sanding sponge and removed the dust with compressed air. The high-gloss color coat itself was sprayed indoors rather than outside, where dust and debris could settle into the wet finish.
Still Tidewater Changed the Cream Finish to Mint
Kelsey chose Still Tidewater from Olympic for her daughter’s room. Kayla had Sherwin-Williams color-match the shade in its Industrial Enamel high-gloss paint, creating the pale mint finish seen across the dresser.
Paint covered the shaped top, side panels, drawer fronts, apron, and carved feet. The gloss also emphasizes the molded edge around the top instead of allowing it to disappear into the former cream-and-brown finish.
Two Coats Created the High-Gloss Finish
With the drawer pulls removed, the nine fronts became uninterrupted mint surfaces. Kayla sprayed two coats of enamel, allowing 24 hours of drying time between them.
The bowed fronts remain easy to read even without contrasting trim because light shifts across each curve. The scalloped lower edge repeats the same movement beneath the drawers.
Gold Paint Put the Original Hardware Back Into Focus
Rather than replacing the ornate pulls, Kayla cleaned them with Bar Keepers Friend, water, and a toothbrush before coating them with Rust-Oleum Gold Metallic spray paint.
Against the pale mint dresser, the hardware now creates a stronger contrast than it did against the original aged cream finish. Keeping the existing pulls also preserves the decorative shapes designed for the French Provincial drawer fronts.
Mint and Gold Changed the Dresser Without Changing Its Shape
The finished dresser keeps its nine bowed drawers, carved feet, scalloped base, molded top, and ornate pulls. Still Tidewater covers the body from top to bottom, while metallic gold separates the hardware from the mint background.
Nothing about the dresser’s basic construction needed to change. Surface preparation, high-gloss paint, and refinished hardware shifted the same Dixie piece from aged cream to mint and gold.
A Glossy Finish Made the Curves More Visible
From the full before-and-after view, the biggest change comes from removing the dark lines that once outlined every drawer and edge. One mint color now runs across the dresser, allowing shadows and reflected light to define the bowed fronts and scalloped apron.
Gold pulls provide the only strong contrast across the front, retaining the decorative detail of the original dresser without bringing back the dark outlining of the previous finish.
Would you keep the original gold hardware with the mint finish or choose a different metal?
All image credis go to Kayla from paintedbykaylapayne.