I love mother of pearl inlay furniture. The layer of texture it gives to a room is so COOL, but is it really worth the price tag? Larger pieces are several thousand dollars (sometimes more than $10,000 for repros!)
I bought this dresser at the flea market last fall for my girls bedroom. It fit perfectly between their twin beds and made a great joint nightstand. I thought the size and shape made this piece a great candidate for an inlay DIY. I was super excited when Sherwin-Williams invited me to join a group of talented bloggers to spread the word about National Painting Week. Each of us was assigned a color and I was thrilled to get purple.
Inspired by the lilac wall color in this amazing Katie Ridder room, I chose Rhapsody Lilac for the main color of the dresser and Minuet for the highlights/faux inlay.
I used Sherwin-Williams waterborne interior alkyd enamel in both shades. It wears as well as full on oil-based paint, but cleans up like latex paint. It’s low VOC and there is hardly any smell, (though you’ll still want to keep your windows open or do the painting outside). It really is a great paint. It’s made for trim and doors, but the hard-wearing formula is awesome for furniture as well.
I lightly sanded the dresser and gave it two coats of Rhapsody Lilac in semi-gloss with a foam mini-roller. Once the base coats were fully dried, I took a glance at some inspiration inlay pieces online and just started doodling with an artists brush. I tried a couple different brushes and quickly discovered you only need one for this project – a 1/4″ wide angled artist’s brush.
You can see on most of the real inlay pieces that the patterns are simple – a couple of circular stylized flowers with vines and simple leaves, all inside a border.
It feels like an intimidating project, but I found that the more relaxed you are, the better and more authentic the result is. I was over-thinking the design on the top of the dresser and that’s my least favorite section now. Also, don’t go over the leaves twice. The real bone or mother of pearl inlay pieces have a lot of color variation, so you don’t want solid white design here either. The real inlay patterns are often not exact and are even a little crooked. Don’t worry about perfection here. No painters tape needed!
Here’s a little 10 second video to give you the sense of the speed of the project. It takes a couple hours probably to cover every surface with the doodling, but it feels like quick, light work.
Can you hear my kids chattering in the background? This was happening on the other side of dresser :)
Once all the big surface designs were done, I went back and added small leaf patterns to all the edges and sides. This was the fun part for me and the look really started coming together with the addition of the smaller patterns.
It doesn’t really matter what design you paint or where or how, the idea is just lots of movement and pattern, in varying shades of white. The result is folksy and pretty charming. Perfect for a child’s room!
Oh – and a quick note about the knobs. After I started the project I realized I would need new knobs to replace the super traditional brass pulls. I was planning to just pick up some of those round unfinished wood knobs, but then I remembered I had a bunch of these green glass knobs from the clearance section at TJ Maxx. They already had a flower design on the fronts, so I just painted those white.
I love the dimension the knobs give!
One of my girlfriends stopped by our place last week, coincidentally after some shopping at ABC where she saw lots of inlay furniture in pastel shades. She noticed the dresser as she walked past the girls room, gasped, said “Oh no you didn’t” as she ran up to get a closer look at the inlay. Trickery = Success! Insert evil laugh and tapping together of finger tips!
Later my friend confessed she was pretty confused at the thought of me spending five grand at ABC. She said that’s not really my style, which I *think* I’ll take as a compliment. :) I’m happy with the dresser, even though it’s clearly not perfect, and super glad I didn’t have to spend thousands to get the inlay look. Especially for something in my kids’ room!
Have you checked out the other National Painting Week participant projects? Tomorrow is Aicia and Bruno from Curbly, so be sure to pop over there in the morning.
Also, I just wanted to thank you guys for all the sweet comments and emails about our super sick Gracie girl. I’m happy to report she is on the upswing today. Thanks for the suggestions and for giving me a little time off to take care of her. Have a GREAT weekend! xoxo
I like your DIY dresser better than the real McCoy!
Witty & Wonderful~
pve
Wow! Wow! Wow! Your skills are astounding! Blown away!
Hi Jenny,
I love your dresser and you are clearly very talented.
I have to say, if money were no object, I'd go with the real deal. Yes, it's worth it because even an inlaid mirror takes artisans over two weeks to complete. When you think of the skill, time and effort involved in producing those pieces and the fact that they will be heirlooms one day, I personally would save up and wait.
Having said that, for your girls room, the dresser you painted is appropriate and lovely. You definitely have a steady hand!
This is gorgeous! I have no patience for painting so am in complete awe of this project!
I am in love with this. Well done.
Amazing. Just amazing. I love it! By the way, I posted about your DIY toy chest on blogtownmom.mom. Thank you!
Talk about perking up a little 'ole dresser, it couldn't be more CHARMING! Those lucky girls!!
shut. your. damn. DIY mouth!!!!!!!!!
This is awesome! I cannot believe you painted this; it looks so good. You could've tricked me too!
this is AMAZING! I've been thinking of trying a bone inlay DIY for awhile now but didn't think I could pull it off. You've given me the inspiration now!!
A-m-a-z-i-n-g. You are sooo talented!!! The dresser looks amazing and it's so much nicer to be able to add your own personal touch and to get the kids involved in something that is theres. Question… I painted a great table I found on the streets of NYC and I totally messed it up by using a primer mixed with paint which I learned the hard way is not a good idea. How do I start over? Should I sand it down again?
Love the Dresser DIY and am glad Gracie and girls are doing well – it's so great that you include them in your work!
That is so pretty! I would never have the patience to do it…but maybe I'll add it to my bucket list!
http://fromfreyawithlove.blogspot.com/
*Gasp* That is amazing!!! Wow…good for you!!!
Lemanie's Randomness Blog
INCREDIBLE!!
–deb
OMG it looks amazing! you did a fantastic job and it looks great in the room. I am not sure I would have had the guts to do that!
Wow, Jenny, this is beautiful. I bet your hand felt tired after all that detail work! Do you think it would work on a smaller piece as well?
I can't imagine pulling that off free hand but you did it perfectly. It's a lovely transformation!
Can I get your opinion of the Acrylic Enamel? I'm getting ready to paint some furniture (coffee and side table) and was going to go with oil based paint based on your previous raves about oil. Do you think you get results as good with the acrylic as you do with oil?
So lovely Jenny!
You did a great job, and something that your children will always cherish.
WOW!
Love how it turned out!!!!
NO WAY!!!! This is GORGEOUS!!! Never seize to amaze me….love, love….
I think there is so much more satisfaction in pulling off a great DIY than in spending big bucks. It just means you are smarter.
Holy GORGEOUS!!!! Wow! I love it so much! Lucky girls. I'm so glad she is feeling better too. I will have to give this paint a try too, especially since my state doesn't carry the bm advnace line yet.
Gorgeous!!! you are so talented. If you arent too sure about free hand, Kim Myles just came out with a faux-inlay stencil!!!
Absolutely phenomenal, Jenny! Did you seal the piece with anything after you finished?
Seriously?? you are amazing! This is incredible!
Wow, the dresser looks fantastic! I admire your patience. By the way, have you checked out the inlay furniture stencil by Kim Myles at http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/indian-inlay-stencil-furniture.html?
SLOW CLAP.
Amazing.
this is beyond fantastic….love it!
Absolutely beautiful! I love real inlay, but this is a gorgeous piece. Great job!
I wasn't convinced by the first photo, honestly thought "Mmmm…" but the overall end result is outstanding. You are an incredible mom as I'm not certain I would have ever done the same for my kiddies! at least w/o every other minute of "Careful,CAREFUL!!!" Would you consider a glass top to protect all that lovely work?
Beautiful! You are so talented. On a side note, Cutting Edge Stencils has a new inlay stencil designed my Kim Myles you might be interested in. I saw someone contemplating it for a rug.
Jenny!! that is insanely beautiful!!! i never fail to leave your blog crazy inspired to go do something. Hope your sweet fam continues to mend over the weekend!
I love it! The dresser is so cool on its own but the paint really makes AWESOME! You have just planted a painting seed in my brain…what can I paint?? :)
Oh wow, amazing! I love it! You are so talented and your blog is one of my favorite things. So inspiring!
Your girls' room is so pretty – have you done a tour of their room (would you be willing to if you haven't already?) Their bedding is so pretty and I'd love to see more of their big girl room!
This looks sooo good! I can't believe this a is DIY project! Ah-mazing!
Oh my goodness! I can't believe you free handed that. Amazing job!
Whitney
whitneykaye@gmail.com
Fantastic faux finish, especially for a little girls' room. Looking at your process pictures conjured long forgotten memories of my mum and her best friend toll painting back in the 80s. Their work was not as stylish; but I am inspired to rework a dresser in much need of a remake! Thanks!
You're craaazy! I can't believe you did this! Your daughters are very lucky to have a mom who spends so much time on their room.
I'll confess that at first I was kind of doubtful this would look nice, but I'll happily admit how wrong I was to doubt. It really looks adorable, and you've given me a new dresser possibility to consider for my daughter's room! Thanks!
Wow! I love your work, but this is by far one of my favorites. I absolutely love that you have such a high style eye, but that you're down to earth enough to make high style accessible on a reasonable budget.
GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GORGEOUS! Glad your little one is on the mend.
i love the look of yours so much better than the real thing- how friggin cute for a kids room!!
That's fantastic. I like your version better than the real inlay type. I am inspired!
I am constantly in awe of your style, design aesthetic and pure craftiness! Love your blog!! I just did a Blog Crush post on Little Green Notebook for my blog- check it out!
http://youareagoodone.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-crush_20.html
Wow, fantastic work. I recently repainted some drawer pulls for a credenza (http://monochromaticdynamic.blogspot.com/2012/02/knobby-need.html), but haven't decided how to treat the credenza–I don't think I'm cut out for doing a painted DIY inlay, but this is definitely inspiring!
So well done! I love the imperfections and this makes it even more lovely! Folk art at it's best! Your little folks did a great job on the backside too….
Great job – especially free hand! The colour is wonderful and the dresser had a great shape to begin with!
Is there any way you could share the name of the font you used for the paint names? It's lovely!
GORGEOUS! Love. Just, love.