Mid Century Modern Farmhouse Dresser in Olive Green

If you’re a fan of both mid century modern and farmhouse styles, then you’re in luck! Easily mix the two with a rustic MCM dresser makeover. Here’s how to make a mid century modern farmhouse dresser in olive green!

This is also an easy way to incorporate green painted furniture into your home decor. Green is a great choice for adding some color and personality to your space, and this particular shade of olive green is just perfect for creating a warm and inviting farmhouse feel.

Mid Century Modern Farmhouse Dresser before Makeover

One of the best things about painting furniture is that you can mix and match styles to your liking!

You don’t have to paint an MCM (mid century modern) dresser with a sleek modern finish. Switch it up with a distressed green dresser instead!

Going for a mid century modern farmhouse look gives you the best of both worlds. You get the clean lines and simplicity of MCM style, paired with the rustic charm and cozy feel of farmhouse decor.

Together, they create a unique and stylish blend that’s perfect for any home.

And with a dresser in this style, you can easily incorporate other elements of both MCM and farmhouse into your space.

Table of Contents

Supplies Used for Mid Century Modern Farmhouse Dresser in Olive Green

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Old Dresser
KwikWood
Sandpaper
Krud Kutter
Spray Shellac
Vintage Moss Green Furniture Paint
Polyurethane Topcoat
Farmhouse Cup Pulls
Wood Plank Top (Details below!)

Ready to give your plain dresser a stylish and unique MCM farmhouse makeover? Let’s get started!

How To Prep A Dresser for Paint

There are a few steps that we need to take before we paint to give us the most professional finish.

First is prepping the old dresser’s finish to be able to hold onto the paint. You’ll need to wash it, scuff sand, remove the dust, and then shellac it to prevent bleedthrough.

Check out these posts to read our proven process on how to prep furniture for painting and how to clean furniture before painting.

Bleedthrough is an annoying thing the wood does to paint. The wood tannins bleed through the paint and make it look like you have stains or splotchy spots in your paint.

Sometimes it won’t show up until you seal the paint. Other times it will show up in your first coat of paint.

There is only one way to really keep the bleed-through at bay, and if you don’t take care of it before you paint, you’ll have to start the process all over once it shows. So I take care of it at the beginning of every single piece of furniture.

See how to properly prevent bleedthrough and stop stains from coming through paint in this post!

How to Change Dresser Hardware

If you plan to change the hardware, you’ll need to fill in the hardware holes and drill new holes. Here are the ways of filling holes when replacing furniture hardware.

You could fill the holes in with wood filler, but wood filler takes forever to dry, and it shrinks a lot. So you end up wasting a lot of time filling the holes.

Instead, I like to use Kwikwood to fill in hardware holes. It dries in an hour, it doesn’t shrink or crack and it dries super hard! Learn more about how to change hardware with KwikWood here!

You’ll want to take care of the hardware holes before you shellac for bleedthrough!

Painting A Dresser Olive Green

Once your prep is complete, you can paint it! Yay!! I used Vintage Moss by Paint Couture Paint on this dresser. It’s a gorgeous medium olive green furniture paint.

I love to spray paint furniture with my paint sprayer, but you can brush it on with a Zibra paintbrush instead.

(Zibra is my favorite paintbrush because they are inexpensive, and the different shapes, like the round brush, make it so easy to get into details.)

Read more about the best paint brushes for painting furniture here.

This dresser took 2-3 coats of paint and I didn’t even use half of a quart of paint. Check out more painted dresser ideas and olive green painted furniture here.

How to Spray Paint a Dresser

Learn how to spray paint a dresser here. It’s the same process that I have followed for years now.

And I don’t just spray the paint, I also spray the water-based topcoat! Spraying it creates the most professional-looking finish!

How to Distress a Dresser

Once the paint is all dry, it’s time to distress! I used 220 grit sandpaper to scuff up the edges and random spots around the dresser.

Learn more about these 6 techniques to distress furniture here!

Sealing A Painted Dresser

After distressing, vacuum up the dust and wipe everything down with a lint-free rag or a tack cloth.

Then apply 3 coats of my all-time favorite water-based polyurethane. This stuff dries hard and really protects your painted finish from getting ruined.

You can brush it on, but it’s so much faster and easier to spray it on. Plus it looks a million times better, with no streaks! Learn ALL of my tips and tricks on how to spray polyurethane here!

Add New Hardware and Plank Top to Dresser

The next day I attached new farmhouse cup pulls. I love the shape and color of these ones!

olive green painted dresser with farmhouse cup pulls

To add an extra element of farmhouse style I made a plank top for this dresser.

Get all the details on how to make a plank top dresser here!

For the perfect farmhouse look, check out these DIY farmhouse drop cloth curtains to tie everything up.

If you like how this dresser turned out, you check out more rustic painted furniture here.

Check out some more DIY 9 drawer dressers for more inspiration.

DIY farmhouse mid century modern painted dresser with plank top

olive green painted dresser with plank top and farmhouse cup pulls

More Before And After Makeovers

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

Can I use a different color of paint for my MCM dresser?

Absolutely! While olive green may be a popular choice for painting MCM dressers, there are no rules when it comes to choosing a color for your furniture.

Whether you want to go bold with a bright color, or keep it classic with white, the choice is entirely up to you.

If you need inspiration, here are the best painted furniture colors for any project. And remember, you can always change up the color in the future if you feel like a refresh!

KwikWood

Sale

Sandpaper

Polyurethane Topcoat

Is it necessary to distress a painted dresser?

Distressing a painted dresser is not necessary, but it can add an extra element of character and charm to your furniture. It can also help to create a more rustic or vintage look, if that’s the style you’re going for.

Distressing a dresser can also help to hide any imperfections or blemishes in the wood.

If your dresser has scratches or dings, distressing it can actually make them blend in more with the overall look. So while it may not be necessary, it can be a helpful technique.

However, if you prefer a clean and polished finish on your painted dresser, then skipping the distressing step is completely fine.

Check out these bedroom dresser ideas to discover the right style for you!