DIY Painted Mid-Century Modern Dresser: Farmhouse Style

Mix painted farmhouse and a mid-century modern dresser together to create a modern farmhouse dresser. This DIY painted mid-century modern dresser even has hairpin legs to boost its style.

Get more Furniture Makeover Ideas here!

We recently moved across the country, sold most of our furniture, and literally packed all that we had into our two small cars, our pickup, and a 6′ x 12′ Uhaul trailer.

Needless to say, we’ve been on the hunt for cheap dressers for our new home.

vintage mid century modern dresser before the makeover

*Side note: Can I just say how freeing it was to get rid of so much junk that we had accumulated throughout the years? And since we sold so much, (and saved so much by not renting a huge moving truck), I have a tight budget (but a budget nonetheless) to redecorate our home. Yay!!!

One of the first pieces we found was this mid-century modern dresser.

Not only was it missing its legs, but it was also dirty, and sticky, and the corners of some of the drawers were broken off.

But for $25, I couldn’t pass it up for my own home!

Originally I thought about removing the current drawer handles so it wouldn’t have a mid-century modern feel anymore, but the more that I looked at the dresser, the more I fell in love with the handles.

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For this painted midnight blue dresser we used:

DIY Painted Mid-Century Modern Dresser: Farmhouse Style

Before painting, I had to tackle the problems.

  • First, the broken corners on the drawers and the scratches all over.
  • Decide how to make the dresser taller. *I didn’t attach the legs until after the dresser was painted though*
  • And finally, painting a mid-century modern dresser in a farmhouse blue finish.

How to Repair Wood Corners

If you look closely, the corners on some of the drawers were broken off. The drawer fronts were made of MDF, so they easily chipped off.

before photo of a 9 drawer MCM dresser with a natural wood finish

Bondo came to the rescue to fix the broken corners. Learn how to use Bondo with our tutorial on how to repair damaged furniture.

It is easy to use, dries fast, and it dries rock hard.

Honestly, Bondo is a must-have product when working with furniture repairs.

You can even use it to repair broken trim on furniture, fill in hardware holes, and fix chipping veneer.

broken corner of drawer fixed with Bondo

I also used some wood filler to fill the large scratches in the wood.

Click here to learn about Best Wood Filler for Furniture.

scratches on a dresser filled with wood filler

Once the Bondo hardened, we molded and sanded down the corners with 220-grit sandpaper

Prepping the Dresser for Paint

Then I scrubbed the whole entire dresser down with a wet old rag and Krud Kutter.

Thankfully Krud Kutter easily cuts through grease and grime, making it easy to clean up utterly disgusting furniture.. like this one. GROSS!

Learn more in this post about How to Clean Furniture Before Painting.

I went through a whole container of this stuff when we moved into our new home!

Not only is it amazing with furniture refinishing, but it easily gets rid of those black built-up dirt/oil stains on fridge handles and trim by door handles and light switches.

After the Krud Kutter, I scuff-sanded the entire dresser and wiped all the dust off with a tack cloth.

Click here to learn about The Importance of Sanding Before Painting Furniture.

And just for insurance against bleed through, we gave it two coats of shellac.

Midnight Blue Chalk Paint

For the perfect shade of navy, we chose Midnight Blue by General Finishes in the Chalk Style Paint.

Check out these navy painted furniture ideas.

**General Finishes no longer makes Chalk Style Paint. Coastal Blue in their milk paint line is very similar though!

You can go to General Finishes website and find blue painted furniture in their colors for inspiration on what color is best for your makeover.

dresser painted with blue paint
The lighting in the garage makes it look grey, but it’s really a dark midnight blue!

This color is so amazing and will go perfectly with my farmhouse navy blue decor plans.

It took 2 coats to get even coverage, and then we heavily distressed the finish with 220-grit sandpaper.

I really wanted more of a farmhouse look instead of a mid-century modern look, so heavily distressing was a must.

Click here to learn about Distressing Furniture: 6 Techniques Anyone Can Do.

To give the weathered wood gray finish extra durability and make it easier to wipe down, I sprayed on 3 coats of my favorite top coat.

I absolutely love spraying polyurethane with my paint sprayer! Learn all about How to Spray Polyurethane here!

Check this post to learn more about the best topcoat for painting furniture.

How to Make a Dresser Taller

This dresser originally had legs, but at some point, someone took them off.

So this dresser was only 20″ tall, and I wanted it to be closer to standard height.

I ordered some hairpin legs and attached them to the bottom of the dresser.

Click here to read our tutorial on how to create a DIY dresser with hairpin legs.

blue painted mid century modern dresser with distressed paint

This dresser was ready to head to the landfill, but now it will be a centerpiece in our home for years to come!

It never ever gets old to see how easily and dramatically paint transforms a piece of furniture. What have you saved from the trash? I’d love to hear!!

Get more ideas for DIY Dresser Makeovers here!

another photo of the blue painted dresser with hairpin legs

Please PIN THIS TUTORIAL FOR LATER or share it with your friends!

a tall photo of the before and after dresser makeover

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