Unique Painted Dresser Designs
Updated on July 24, 2017
We’ve been redoing the bedrooms in our homes lately and we’re just about finished! The big projects, like painting the walls and remodeling the floors, are finished, but now we’re choosing furniture and décor pieces. Because we’re DIY enthusiasts, however, this actually really means that we’re mostly choosing furniture and décor pieces to customize. We’ve made some pretty awesome things so far, but our absolute favourite piece to create was undoubtedly our gorgeous hand painted dresser. We’ve made more than one for a few different rooms now and, since we still have at least one left, we’re still on the prowl for inspiration and more designs!
Just in case you’re also in the market for a new painted dresser idea that will give your décor scheme some extra life, check out these 15 stunning designs that are sure to impress anyone who visits your home no matter where you put them.
1. DIY ombre dresser
Is the dresser you’re hoping to remodel a very tall one that has plenty of drawers stacked on top of one another? Then you have lots of space free for painting and making an artistic look! We’ve been obsessed with ombre designs lately, so we were naturally quite drawn to this ombre drawer idea featured on Décor 8. They’ve selected several different shades of the same colour along a whole spectrum and painted each drawer from darkest to lightest. We think this design will look stunning no matter what colour you choose to do it in!
2. Painted chevron dresser
Do you love the idea of having a dresser that’s painted quite plainly on its base but features some kind of visual appeal on the drawers? Well, there’s certainly more than one way to achieve that, even if you’re aiming for a more subtle colour scheme than the bright coral range of shades we showed you above. Instead of relying on colours, try making patterned drawers instead! We love the way Dishfunctional Designs painted a neutral grey chevron design on each drawer, adding some contrast by sticking to a plain stripe at the top.
3. Painted gold diamond dresser
Perhaps you actually are looking for a very attention grabbing design, but you want to hit the mark somewhere between prioritizing colour and shape, plus you want the look to be rather modern and classy? Then we think you might prefer this metallic gold diamond design from Best Friends for Frosting! We love the way they’ve accented the shining gold paint with matching gold dresser handles, just to draw the whole look together.
4. Painted oak leaf dresser
Are you a talented painter who doesn’t shy away from the idea of painting things by hand? Then we suggest using your dresser as an opportunity to get really creative on an unconventional surface! You’ll have a blast creating a beautifully shaded leaf design clear across the front of the doors, just like The Junk in Our Trunks did here.
5. French butterfly dresser
Perhaps the space you’re trying to decorate cohesively has a sort of international feel that’s heavily influenced by Parisienne styles all about the room? In that case, this “papillon” design featured on Sophia’s Décor is the perfect thing for you. You might recreate the look freehand if you’re very confident in your painting skills or find yourself a big, lovely butterfly stencil and some lettering stencils in a cursive font of your choosing.
6. French bath cabinet sketch dresser
Are you very intrigued by the idea of letting vintage French décor influence the style of your space but butterflies have never really been your thing? In that case, we think you’ll appreciate this dated bath cabinet design written in French and stencilled onto the front of the dresser and drawers. If you have a steady hand, this design wouldn’t even be very hard to recreate by hand as long as you’re willing to put the time into sketching it our first! See the whole idea in more detail on 4 The Love of Wood.
7. Herringbone centre drawers
Are you still thinking about the chevron design but you’re actually looking for a style that’s a little more prominent and perhaps modeled after mid-century family home décor? Then get that visual patterned effect by creating a herringbone pattern across some of the drawers instead! We love the way Miss Kitty and The Bears created a mirrored herringbone design down the centre drawers of a three-tiered dresser, but the pattern would look equally great along any drawer setup.
8. Vintage Christmas wreath dresser
Perhaps you’ve been browsing through stencils and printable templates and slowly realizing that all of the intricate designs you like the aesthetic of most are seasons specific and you’re worried that your dresser won’t suit year round if you used those images? Well, Ava Blake Creations is here to show you that even these stencils can be versatile if you do them right! They’ve used a template that’s technically a Christmas wreath to get this lovely interwoven circle dresser, but because they’ve paired it with a bright eggshell blue and weathered it a little, you’d never notice. The design simply looks lovely and vintage inspired!
9. Painted stripes and bright flower stickers
Do you have some decorative decal stickers that you’re absolutely in love with and really want to use, but you think the dresser you’re transforming needs just a bit more of a transformation than that? Don’t be afraid to give it a paint job under the stickers too! Choose colours that complement or contrast well with the colour of stickers you’ve got, just like DIY Network did here. If you don’t have stickers and you just have an image, print it in high quality and decoupage the flowers on once your paint has dried!
10. Vintage ballerina graphic dresser
Are you still totally enthralled by the idea of using vintage publication images like the French ones we showed you above? Then here’s another stunning design from Ava Blake Creations! Besides being totally on theme, this lovely little painted sketch of a ballerina is beautiful in and of itself. We very much enjoy the way they painted the base of the dresser in the same darker colour as the sketch so the image stands out well against the light background of the drawers.
11. Bright repeated damask pattern stencils
Does the idea of a repeating stenciled pattern appeal to you because stencils let you make a very even repeat with wonderfully neat edges, but you want it to have a little something extra too? Then you simply must check out how DIY Inspired made their damask stencil design in fun, bright contrasting colours! Whether you recreated their blue and yellow aesthetic or choose another eye catching scheme, your dresser will look just as fun and attention grabbing.
12. Simple contrasting drawer knobs
Have you been scrolling through this post admiring all of the different designs we’ve shown you but still thinking about how you want something very simple and just a little bit varied from the dresser you already own? In that case, check out this easy painted dresser upcycling project featured on Michaela Noelle Designs! This is actually the “before” version of their project, which looks like the first chevron design we showed you when it’s all finished, but we like it so much that we think it deserves some love too. Give your dresser a new coat of neutral paint and then, using as many colours as you please, paint the knobs in contrasting shades that will pull out pops of colour in the décor throughout the rest of the room. Voila; nice and easy!
13. Graphic typography dresser
Have you been thinking about how all of the vintage designs we’ve shown you so far look lovely with their weathered and sketched images painted down the front, but what really appeals to you is the lovely cursive wording featured on each one? We can’t blame you; typography is an art form all of its own and we’ve also been tempted to us key décor pieces in our homes to pay it homage! That’s exactly what Backroads Revival did here, and they’ll show you how to do it too.
14. Chalk paint honey bee dresser
Did you know that chalkboard paint is actually special for its texture and finish and not for its colour, meaning it can come in more colours than just the classic black? Well, if you didn’t you’re in for a treat! We love the way Sophia’s Décor used a pretty eggshell blue chalkboard paint to give this dresser a bright new lease on life, adding adorable bumble bee detail with a white chalk marker. If you’re confident in your hand drawing skills, you could make this dresser feature just about anything!
15. Hand painted calligraphy dresser
When most people hear the word “calligraphy”, they usually think of the beautifully looping style of writing that was common in previous decades when hand written official documents were the norm. In reality, however, calligraphy styles can be applied to images as well! That’s why we love this hand painted bird design from Tweak and Style so much. The decorative lines below the sketched bird perfectly hearken to calligraphic writing, making this an awesome DIY project for those of you who are very artistic with your freehand skills.
Have you design and painted your own custom dresser upcycling projects before and been very happy with the final results, but you don’t see anything similar to what you created on our list? Tell us all about how you did it or link us to pictures of your work in the comments section!