Distressing furniture doesn’t mean your furniture is feeling panicked. It’s a term used to describe the process of making furniture pieces look weathered – also called shabby-chic. I’m in the process of going room by room at our new house to try to blend a homestead feel into our new digs and Juniper’s room is my first project.
My Aunt T always finds the best stuff at thrift shops and estate sales. She scored this adorable chifferobe and immediate thought it would be perfect for Juniper.
A chifferobe is an old-fashioned children’s dresser that also includes a small closet to hang their adorable clothes. I wasn’t wild about the color though, so I decided to make this my first attempt at distressing furniture.
I began by removing the existing knobs, drawers and the closet door. Then every piece got painted white. It would look cute in vintage-inspired greens or blues too, but white was perfect for Juniper’s room.
After two coats, the chifferobe looked sparkly clean. Juniper helped me assemble it all back together.
Next came the fun part: distressing. I took some sand paper and gently rubbed it along the areas that would naturally get aged over time – all the edges, corners and around the knob areas.
It’s important to take a step back often at this stage. You don’t want to overdo it or underdo it. Taking that step back helps balance where larger distressed areas are vs. smaller spots. It also helps to keep things asymmetrical, which seems more realistic.
My Aunt T also hooked me up with some charming glass knobs to replace the wooden ones that came with the chifferobe. Those added a nice touch.
I love the way the distressed chifferobe turned out. Her changing pad and the canvas basket that keeps her diapers all organized both fit perfectly on top. It’s like these were all just made to fit together!
I think it adds some nice character to Juniper’s room, especially paired with the great vintage botanical prints I framed recently. I’m excited to see what else we can rough up around the house to help bring some of that rustic, homestead-y feel inside.
