Dark Green Chalk Painted Dresser

Step by step, how to paint a dresser with green chalk paint and how to paint furniture without brush marks. You’ve gotta see this stunning dark green chalk painted dresser makeover!

Get more green painted furniture ideas here!

Today I’m sharing this modern dresser makeover with chalk paint. This is what the dresser looked like before.

We picked it up from an ad on Facebook Marketplace and it was in pretty good condition other than a damaged corner.

Table of Contents

Supplies Used For This Dark Green Chalk Painted Dresser

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Electric Screwdriver to remove hardware
KwikWood to fill in hardware holes
Disposable Vinyl Gloves
Wood Filler
3×4 Vacuum Compatible SurfPrep Sander (Use code RAY10 to get 10% off your order!)
Foam Pads
Krud Kutter Cleaner Degreaser
Shop Vac
Tack Cloth
Clear Shellac
Country Chic Paint – Hollow Hill
Zibra Round Brush
Varathane Water Based Polyurethane
Fuji Q4 Paint Sprayer
DIY Leather Pulls

Grab our list of 10 must have painting furniture supplies too!

Prep Dresser for Chalk Paint

First I removed the old hardware with my electric screwdriver. I planned to clean up the hardware and put it back on, so I didn’t fill in all of the hardware holes.

Read this post to learn how to clean old furniture hardware.

But one of the top drawer pulls was broken so I filled in the holes on the top drawer so then I could put new hardware on the top drawer.

Fill Holes in Drawers

I filled them in with KwikWood, my favorite product to fill hardware holes and repair damage. Read more in this post about filling holes when replacing cabinet or furniture hardware.

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It’s a two-part epoxy that’s the consistency of clay. It dries hard in about an hour, and it doesn’t shrink and crack like most wood fillers do.

While I had it out, I shaped it around the broken corner to fill in the missing wood. Check out this post to learn more about how to use KwikWood.

filling old hardware holes on dresser with kwikwood

Clean and Scuff Sand Dresser

While I waited for the KwikWood to dry, I cleaned the whole dresser with Krud Kutter and an old damp rag to get rid of any dirt, oil or grime that was on it.

I don’t want any of those things to interfere with the paint being able to stick to the dresser. Read this post to learn more about how to clean furniture before painting.

After the KwikWood was dry, I sanded the KwikWood down smooth and to a better shape. Then I scuff sanded the rest of the dresser, with a fine sandpaper pad just to remove the shine.

Read all the details of sanding before painting furniture in this post.

I used my shop vac with the hose and brush attachment to remove most of the dust that was left behind, then a tack cloth to pick up the rest of the dust.

Prime Dresser to Prevent Bleed Through

Even though I’m using chalk paint on this dresser, I still like to prime before painting.

Not necessarily to help the paint stick, because this chalk paint will stick to a scuff sanded wood surface pretty well on its own.

But I like to prime to prevent bleed through stains from showing up in my paint. Bleed through is only really prevented by using the right kind of primer, and a shellac-based primer is my go-to for blocking it.

Clear shellac is specifically my go-to primer to stop stains from coming through paint. I use it on almost everything!

I sprayed two coats of shellac all over the dresser, letting it dry for at least an hour in between coats, and then overnight before I painted.

spraying clear shellac to dresser to prevent bleed through before painting.

Read this post to learn more about the best primers for painting furniture.

Paint Dresser With Dark Green Chalk Paint

Then I was finally ready to paint! I picked out this gorgeous deep, moody green from Country Chic Paint called Hollow Hill. Here are more of the best green chalk paint for furniture.

Check out my honest and detailed Country Chic Paint Review here.

country chic paint hollow hill chalk paint

Check out my list of the top chalk paint brands for your future furniture makeovers and get more chalk painted furniture ideas here.

Avoid Brush Marks

I poured it into a separate container and added a little bit of water to it to thin it out a little bit, because Country Chic Paint, and chalk paint in general is pretty thick stuff.

Adding some water helps prevent some brush marks, because it makes the paint take a little bit longer to dry.

I brushed the paint on all over with my favorite round paintbrush from Zibra. Check out this post to read more about the best paint brushes for painting furniture.

brushing first coat of green chalk paint on dresser with round paint brush

Honestly, I LOVE spraying paint with my paint sprayer instead of brushing it on, but this time I just wanted to use my paintbrush. Check out this post to learn about painting furniture with a sprayer.

But, I really don’t like brush marks on my furniture, so I still tried to do what I could to minimize them. Learn all about how to paint furniture without brush marks here!

I worked in smaller sections and tried to brush it with long brush strokes, from edge to edge, before moving to the next section.

I pulled out the drawers so I could paint all sides of them, and just painted really carefully on the edges so I didn’t get paint on the drawer boxes.

When everything was painted with one coat, I wrapped my brush with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out in between coats.

And then I let the paint dry. It only took about an hour before I could paint the second coat.

dresser with 2 coats of green chalk paint — 2 coats

This paint has pretty good coverage and needed only 2 coats to get full coverage, even after I thinned it out.

Sand Away Any Brush Marks

After the second coat was dry, I sanded everything to help remove any brush marks that were made.

This is also a great time to create a distressed look. Learn all about the 6 best distressing furniture techniques here!

sanding painted dresser with foam sanding pad to remove brush marks

Then I removed all of the dust and I lightly brushed some more paint on the areas that needed more paint.

Topcoat Dark Green Chalk Painted Dresser

And then I used my tried and true method of top coating chalk paint. I filtered the water-based poly into my paint sprayer and added a tiny bit of water to thin it out a little bit.

Then I sprayed 3 coats of poly all over the dresser, letting it dry for a few hours in between coats. Check this post to learn more about the best topcoats for painting furniture.

spraying water based poly to green painted dresser

I scuff sanded lightly between coats of poly with fine grit sanding pads to help the finish feel silky smooth.

green painted dresser after topcoating and scuff sanding

Attach New DIY Leather Pulls

After the poly was all dry, I started to put the original, cleaned-up hardware back on. But I just wasn’t feeling it. So, I switched gears and made new DIY leather pulls for the drawers.

drilling a hole into leather for new diy leather drawer pulls

You can get more details on how I make these leather pulls in my DIY leather drawer pulls video that I’ll link here.

The only difference is that I made them into handles, with two screws instead of just one.

The old hardware holes were 5.5” apart, and I cut the leather at about 7.5” so the leather would bend out enough to be able to grab onto.

closeup of leather drawer pull on green dresser

Watch the full makeover here!

Now you’re ready to enjoy your new chalk painted dresser! Check out more painted dresser ideas here.

tight shot of green chalk painted dresser with leather drawer pulls

full shot of green painted dresser with farmhouse with leather pulls

More Before And After Makeovers

Click any of these “before” photos below to view the “after” of that makeover.