Master Bedroom Dresser

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Built in Dresser I designed a space for the dresser when we built the house and now, in 2008, have finally gotten around to building it.  Steph wanted it to be the same colour as our bedroom furniture, so I agreed to stain it.  In the past, I have had very poor results with staining because of blotching due to the porosity of the wood grain.  After much research, I decided that the best approach was to add dye to the finish and spray it on.  This is the way professionals get their high quality finishes, so I tried it.

As I was about to do this with shellac, I met Wally Malinowski, a Vancouver commercial paint store owner and part time golfer at Fairwinds, who suggested his lacquer product.  It is water based, dries for sanding in about 1/2 hour and allows for a finished product in a couple of hours.

It worked great.  And clean up is dead easy.

 
Step 1: make the dresser and drawers A simple face-frame for the drawer front and drawers in my normal manner with solid fronts and a curved drop-down for pulling out the drawer.  The book case is not nailed, screwed, or glued, just held in place by pressure.

 
Step 2: Finish The final finish formula is:
  • 3 cups of lacquer
  • 1/2 teaspoon Burnt Umber FX water based dye
  • 1/2 teaspoon Raw Sienna
  • 1/4 teaspoon Burnt Sienna
  • 1/4 teaspoon Van Dyke Brown

 
Step 3: Build the Bookcase