Painting a Dresser White

Painting a Dresser White can be pretty easy as long as you use a good primer and use the right paint! Check out this simple way to get a durable and professional finish on a white-painted dresser!

Find more DIY Dresser Makeover ideas here.

Tall wood dresser before getting painted white.

So, we found a set of dressers… and thought it would be fun to have a little friendly competition between my wife and me.

Now it’s my turn to paint this tall dresser, and you get to decide who did it better!

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Table of Contents

Supplies Used for Painting a Dresser White:

Electric Screwdriver
Flexible Drill Bit Extension
Cordless Drill
Wood Glue
Clamp
Krud Kutter and a Damp Rag
Shop-Vac
Wood Filler
220 Grit Sandpaper
Tack Cloth
Painters Tape
Pre-Taped Painters Plastic
Citristrip
Plastic Wrap
Cheap Paintbrush (for the stripper)
Sponge or Steel Wool
Mineral Spirits
Lint-Free Rags
BIN Shellac-Based Primer Spray Cans
SurfPrep Sander (Get 10% off with code RAY10)
Fine Grit Foam Sanding Pad
General Finishes White Eduro Poly
Paint Sprayer
Respirator
Paint Filter
Polyurethane Topcoat
Tile Grout Sponge and Pantyhose
Small Detail Paintbrush
DIY Leather Pulls

Step 1: Prep

Remove Hardware/Make Repairs

I got started by removing the old hardware and then fixing the drawer.

The top-drawer track was cracked so I glued it back together and clamped it. When the glue was dry, I screwed it back into the dresser.

Gluing a broken drawer track back together.

It was a really tight spot and my small screwdriver wouldn’t fit in the back, so I used a handy little flexible drill bit attachment to screw it back in back there.

Clean

Then I used some Krud Kutter and a damp rag to remove all the nasty dirt and grime.

Check out How to Clean Furniture Before Painting to learn more.

I also took some time to vacuum out the drawers and the inside of the dresser too.

Fill Scratches

There were also a few minor dings and scratches that I filled in with a little wood filler.

Learn more about the Best Wood Filler for Furniture here.

Sand/Scuff Sand

When the wood filler was dry, I sanded the areas that I filled, and I scuff-sanded the rest of the dresser with 220 grit sandpaper.

Check out The Importance of Sanding Before Painting Furniture to learn more.

Sanding wood filled scratches with 220 grit sandpaper.

Then I vacuumed off the dust and wiped off any remaining residue with a tack cloth.

Strip Drawers

To get the 3 bottom drawers ready to be stripped, I put small pieces of tape on the inside of the hardware holes to help keep stripper from dripping into the drawers.

And then I wrapped the drawers with pre-taped plastic.

Now I was ready to generously apply Citristrip on the drawer fronts.

We love this stuff because it doesn’t have the harsh smell that some other strippers do!

Learn more tips and tricks on how to remove old stain from wood here!

Brushing citristrip stripper onto the drawer fronts.

One trick that Natalie has taught me is to cover the stripper with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight.

This keeps the stripper from drying out too fast and lets it work its magic on the wood a little bit longer.

The next day I removed the plastic wrap and scraped the stripper off the drawers.

Click here for the stain removal guide and checklist

Then I used a sponge and some mineral spirits to scrub the drawer fronts to remove the stripper residue.

We usually use steel wool for this part, but we didn’t have any, so I made a sponge work.

Check out the best tools for removing paint or stain from wood to learn more.

Scubbing drawer fronts with a sponge and mineral spirits.

It took a few days for the wood grain to dry out to see how the drawers looked, so we went back to work on the dresser and moved it outside to prime it.

Step 2: Prime

I sprayed 2 coats of BIN Shellac Based Primer on the dresser, letting it dry for 30 minutes between coats.

Not only does primer help the paint to stick better, but it also helps your paint have much better coverage and this primer helps prevent stains from bleeding through and staining the paint…especially when painting white like I planned to do with this dresser!

Learn more about the best primer for painting furniture here.

Spraying a dresser with BIN Shellac Based Primer.

Sand Primer

When the second coat of primer was dry, we moved the dresser back into the garage and I lightly sanded down all of the primed surface to make it nice and smooth.

I personally have a fear of sanding primer too far and having to redo it again and again, so I sanded pretty lightly.

Using a SurfPrep sander to lightly sand the primer before painting the dresser.

And of course, I cleaned off all that dust I created while sanding with a vacuum and tack cloth again.

Step 3: Paint

Then it was finally time to paint! For this dresser, I used General Finishes White Enduro Poly, mixed it really good and then poured it into my paint sprayer.

Check out the Best HVLP Paint Sprayers for Furniture here.

This paint doesn’t need a topcoat, and it’s already thin, so you don’t have to thin it before putting it in the sprayer, which makes my life as a beginner so much easier

Spraying the first coat of white paint on a tall dresser.

I was pretty happy with how well it sprayed on…until I looked a little closer and saw a nice drip on the side by the leg.

So, I rubbed the drip out with my finger as much as I could while it was wet, and then I sanded it down smooth after it dried.

The rest of the dresser felt a little more textured than I prefer, so I also did a quick hand sanding job with a fine grit foam pad.

Then I cleaned all the dust off and sprayed a second coat…and whoopsie!!!! I thought the first coat dripped bad, but the second coat had some pretty thick drips and runs.

So, I brushed those drips out the best that I could, waited for them to dry, and sanded them back down smooth.

Using a small brush to brush out some drips of wet paint.

I figured before spraying the third coat that I better test out the sprayer and lower the amount of paint that came out.

After that I sprayed the third coat and it went on so much better with no drips!

The finish felt pretty good on the dresser after 3 coats, but I did rub a brown paper bag all over it just to smooth it out a little bit more.

The top also still felt a bit rough from the overspray that settled on it.

So, we laid the dresser on its back and sprayed the top and sides with a 4^th coat, hoping it would be smoother as it dried vertically instead of horizontally…and it worked!