For the past few weeks, I’ve been working on a makeover on our primary bedroom and one of the projects recently finished is this painted rattan paneled dresser.
Originally it was a dark charcoal stain which didn’t work with the coastal vibe I was trying to create in this space. The dresser came with the house when we bought it back in 2022 (see these pics which show the original bedroom).
I shopped around a bit for a replacement but then came to my senses and realized since it fit the wall perfectly, all it needed was to be painted white and elevated to a coastal style with the addition of rattan to the drawer fronts. I saved myself over a thousand dollars by giving it a makeover, here is is before, rather dark and uninspiring.
Pottery Barn sells a similar white and cane dresser on their main site and this white and cane dresser pictured below on PB Kids for $1699. The look is a classic one so I repeated the same white paint plus rattan front combo.
I updated my dresser for less than $100 with primer, a quart of paint, and a little patience applying the rattan.
The priming and painting steps were simple: one coat of Zinsser water based primer and two coats of ‘Swiss Coffee’ in the Benjamin Moore Advance formula (the best for cabinets and furniture).
The more difficult task was applying the rattan. I thought it would be simple, like wallpaper, but I was wrong. Rattan, being a natural woven material, is thick and will fray if you’re not careful. I read online that it’s important to wet it first, so I soaked it in warm water for 20 minutes, then let it dry out on a towel, forcing it to lay flat by holding the corners down with heavy objects.
I worked with a 5 foot roll of rattan I purchased here. I cut it carefully with sharp scissors but found the natural rattan still wanted to curl, so to apply it to the drawer fronts and make it stay, I used a thick amount of tacky glue applied with a craft paintbrush, and then forced it to lay flat with small weighted objects, I found drinking glasses filled with water worked well.
I repurposed the original drawer pulls, but instead of leaving them dark, I spray painted them gold.
I’ll share more images from this primary bedroom makeover next week. 🙂