Tuesday, May 15, 2012

DIY - Painting a Zebra Print Dresser


Painting a Zebra Print Dresser - by Amy Sagan

My little girl LOVES zebras. Her best friend is a zebra stuffed animal. So naturally, when deciding how do decorate her room, zebra print patterns would have to play a part. I decided to get ambitious and paint her dresser black & white with zebra print.

Here is how I did it, and how you can too!
These concepts can be applied to other furniture as well.

Please realize before starting,
this will take a lot of time and patience.

After priming her dresser ahead of time, I obtained from my current supplies and from the store: 
  • White Glidden Premium Interior Premium Paint
  • Black Glidden Premium Interior Premium Paint
  • 2 different sized inexpensive black sponge brushes
  • 2 different sized smaller paint brushes 
  • Paper towels (or a paint tarp)

You can choose whatever brand interior paint you prefer. I chose to use a Semi-Gloss, in the 1 quart size.
 
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(Some of the steps forthcoming require at least a half hour of drying time.) 
 
 First, I painted the body of the dresser and the drawers white (after removing them and standing them up on their backs, on the floor) with the larger sponge brush. This took about 2 coats of paint. 

Then with the larger sponge brush I painted the top of the dresser black, 2+ coats. I also decided, with these drawers being so close together, to paint a border around each of the drawers. For this I used the smaller sponge brush. 

And then came the zebra stripes...



I started to use the larger of the 2 regular paint brushes, and that brush seemed fine for filling in some of the thicker of the zebra stripes, but mostly I used the small paint brush for all of the stripes.



Remember, this will take a long time.  Do not be discouraged that the stripes do not look immediately complete and full. This process also took 2 coats of paint, and the 2nd coat is very easy. 

Just be patient and stay steady.
Your hard work will pay off with a fabulous like-new piece of furniture that is unique and super stylish!

An advantage of this design, is no matter what you paint a room, the black & white zebra stripes will match your changing taste in color.

NOTE: Although the dresser will be safe to tough & handle by the end of the day, please allow at least 3 days before setting things on top of it to really let the paint settle. Any sooner and it may result in things sticking or leaving transfer marks.

Her Zebra Print room, nearly finished: 





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