I have a perfectly functional dresser in my bedroom and I love the style of it, but I really don't like the dated look of the wood stain. I have quite a few blue accents in my bedroom, so I thought I would build off that color palette and give the dated dresser a fresh new look.

I hopped right into this project by painting on multiple thin coats of Chalky Finish paint in the rich blue color called Honor.

To protect the finish, I reached for my favorite varnish, Americana Decor Light Satin Varnish, and gave everything a good coat to seal it up.

Just changing the color to this modern new blue made such a difference!

I couldn't just have a basic dresser, though. It needed a pop of something else, so I started looking for fun patterns to match. I found this wallpaper featuring Dutch houses on Spoonflower (designed by Quick Brown Fox) and knew I had to incorporate it somehow.

I decided to cover the fronts of the drawers with this pattern, so I started by making a template to just the right size, using some clear Con-Tact paper. (P.S. Make sure you test first to be sure your Con-Tact paper will stick to your wallpaper AND come back off again, or else this technique won't work for you!)

I covered the drawer front with the clear Con-Tact paper, leaving it slightly larger that necessary on all sides, then I smoothed it out really well.

To cut it to size, I ran a craft knife along the the edges of the drawer. This is where the clear comes in handy, because I could easily see what I was doing through the paper.

After sticking the clear template to some fabric a few times to reduce the stickiness a little, it was ready to use as a template. I put the clear template onto a sheet of the wallpaper, lining it up so that the pattern was just how I liked it (again, that clear really comes in handy!).

I used the clear template as a guide and cut out the wallpaper with scissors. Then it was ready to apply to the drawer front, following the wallpaper's application directions.

I used a brayer to smooth out the paper to remove any air bubbles, then used that craft knife again to trim off any excess paper.

Now I have this fun pattern peeking out when you open the bottom doors. Isn't that just the cutest pattern?

I love this little homage to the Netherlands. We have fond memories of traveling there and we have close friends that live there, so it makes me happy to see this pattern every time I reach for one of the dresser drawers.

To finish the dresser off, I spray painted the existing knobs in a brass color to make them pop against the blue drawers.

This dresser makeover was such a success, just with simple paint and a fun pattern. Now this piece is no longer a dark hole in my bedroom, but instead a focal point that adds real interest and design.