Green are the hills of Ireland...

...and green they will always stay....along with a dresser I just painted, lol.

We have a dresser that has migrated around the house without a real purpose until recently. I decided to move it into the living room and use it to hold all of our dog stuff, but I felt a little weird about a dresser in the living room. It was kind of a black hole because the area we placed it doesn't have a lot of light, but it also still felt like Scott's old bedroom furniture (which it totally is, in case you were wondering).

It's such an awkward corner, too, that I felt something bright could really stand alone there. To the left in the photo above is our door to the backyard and to the right are our french doors into the kitchen, so most of the time, this area is just next to a main walkway.

I actually had wanted to paint a piece of furniture green for a while, but couldn't figure out which one till this little project came up. Green is my favorite color and always reminds me of both my birthstone (emerald) and my heritage (Irish), so having the hue greet me every day seemed like a logial step.

Before taking the leap, though, I went online and researched the color to see if perhaps others had tried a bright green and it had ended up more like Slimer than Éire.

Thankfully, the results were exactly what I wanted to find. They were not only gorgeous, but they really helped set off the area of the room where they stood.

In what can be described as possibly my most haphazard color choosing experience ever, I literally walked up to the color samples in Home Depot, grabbed one that I really liked, and got a sample pot of it. I figured that even if I went a shade light or dark, it was okay because the intensity would still be there.

This is an after shot. Hopefully your sample pot won't be already covered with the color. Also, don't
 buy poly that is smooshed. That's what happens when you use a hammer to close it instead of a mallet!

My tools for this job were a small foam roller, my cutting in brush, and a foam brush. I had the polyurethane already from when I redid the coffee table, so I just added the green affectionately called 'Mown Yard' into the arsenal and hauled the dresser into the garage.

I took the same steps as I did when I refurbished his matching little brother for the guest room. Honestly, though, prep is pretty universal, so you can always follow these rules for any job. Just skip the ones that don't apply:

1. Take out drawers
2. Take out any glass that you can. If it can't be removed, use painters tape over it.
3. Take off any hardware that you can
4. Set up in a well ventilated area
5. Use a hand sander for more control. Sand the entire piece. If the piece is covered in a large amount of layers, use a deglosser.

Thankfully, I was able to use use my hand sander.

6.Wipe down to remove any dust that has clung to the surface.
7. Spray/brush on your primer. I ended up using spray primer (white), but it's not necessary. I just find it works quicker and I always seem to have it around. As always when using spray paint, make sure to not stay in one place for too long and to keep your hand moving at all times to avoid drips.
8. Allow primer to dry, then apply first coat of your main color. I actually like to start with a brush and get into the smaller areas that you can't reach with the roller. That way, when the roller gets near the brush strokes, it textures them, helping it all blend together. This is how you can get a more professional, seamless look, especially on larger pieces of furniture.
9. Reapply coats as needed. I find that I can pretty easily get two coats (and that's it) out of one sample, so keep that in mind while purchasing. Just make sure to look at it from all angles so you don't miss spots.
10. Allow to dry overnight, then apply the poly with a regular foam brush evenly over the whole surface. Wait 5 minutes, then return and take care of any drips that you might have missed earlier.
11. Allow THAT to dry overnight and reassemble the pieces from steps 1-3.

12. Stand back and admire your finished product.

I know that 12 steps seems like a lot on paper (on web? on internet? whatever), but honestly, it doesn't take very long at all. I'm a pretty impatient person when it comes to paint, so the fact that I can do it definitely means that you can. Redoing furniture is truly one of those small, cost effective tweaks that you can perform to really make your house like home. This was so cost effective, in fact, that I even reused the old handles because I liked their look with the green!

It's so nice having something really pop in that corner now. I love the fact that people might eye it as they walk by. The best part is that no one has to look at our leashes and pet supplies anymore (because they were originally in clear drawers in the dining room...yeesh!). It just really makes you forget that inside there lies some ear cleaner and puppy nail clippers.

So what do you think? Is part of your Spring cleaning going to involve cleaning up some of your old furniture? Let me know in the comments!