She Used a Dollar Store Hand Broom to Give an Old Wood Dresser a Faux Linen Finish
Paint can cover an old furniture finish, but a solid coat was not the goal for this tall wood dresser. Its pale finish showed scratches and wear across the lower drawers, while five large drawers, molded edges, round wood knobs, and a scalloped base remained worth keeping.
Instagram creator Piece by Piece Finds refinished the dresser with a faux linen paint technique that requires an unexpected tool: a small hand broom from the dollar store. Instead of leaving the new paint smooth, she swept the broom through the wet surface in two directions to form crossing lines that resemble woven fabric.
White primer provides the base, while Midnight Blue paint mixed with Floetrol creates the darker coat above it. The dresser keeps its original shape and hardware, but the flat wood surfaces gain a textile-like pattern that changes how the old piece reads.
Wood and Round Knobs Covered the Original Dresser
The tall dresser has two upper drawers stacked above three larger lower drawers, with a projecting ledge separating the two sections. Round wood knobs repeat across all five drawer fronts, while molded trim outlines the top, drawer openings, center ledge, and base.
Wear is most visible across the lower half, where scratches and dark marks interrupt the pale finish. None of that requires changing the dresser’s construction, so the drawers, knobs, molding, and scalloped lower edge could remain part of the finished piece.
White Primer Created the Base for the Fabric Effect
BIN Advanced synthetic shellac primer went over the old finish before the blue paint was added. A roller spreads the white primer across the broad wood surfaces, covering the previous color while leaving the dresser’s molded profiles intact.
The white layer also has a role in the finish beyond paint adhesion and stain blocking. Parts of this lighter base become visible between the fine marks created in the darker coat, helping the crossed pattern stand apart from a flat navy finish.
Paint and Floetrol Gave the Broom Time to Make Lines
Midnight Blue paint from Fusion Mineral Paint was mixed with Floetrol at a 1:1 ratio before going onto the primed dresser. Floetrol extends the working time of the wet paint, giving the surface enough time for the next step.
A small hand broom is swept through the coating first in one direction and then across it in the other. Horizontal and vertical marks intersect across the drawer face, producing fine lines that imitate the warp and weft found in woven linen.
Crossing Broom Marks Changed the Five Drawer Fronts
Once assembled, the dresser has the same five drawers and stepped profile, but the pale wood has been replaced by a deep blue-gray surface filled with thin crossing marks. The pattern continues across each drawer instead of stopping at the larger flat sections.
The original round knobs remain in place and now sit within the darker finish. Molded borders around the drawers create breaks between the patterned panels, while the scalloped lower rail survives beneath the new surface treatment.
Faux Linen Lines Continue Across the Top and Sides
The close view makes the broom technique easier to see. Fine horizontal and vertical lines cross the dresser top, creating a grid that resembles threads rather than conventional brush marks or wood grain.
The same treatment reaches the side panels, drawer fronts, and projecting trim. Raised edges pick up more contrast than the broad surfaces, outlining the molding without introducing another paint color or replacing the existing details.
Same Dresser Shape Remains Under a New Surface
Side by side, the dresser keeps its proportions, five-drawer arrangement, round knobs, center ledge, and scalloped base. The change comes from what covers those parts rather than from removing them.
The faux linen treatment also offers a different result from sanding the dresser for a smooth painted finish. Visible broom marks are the point of the technique, turning the brush texture that paint projects tend to avoid into the pattern that defines the finished piece.
Would you try the faux linen technique on an old dresser, or would you prefer a smooth coat of paint?
Images and project by Instagram creator Piece by Piece Finds.