1912 Antique Dress- Slightly updated

I. LOVE. THIS. DRESSER!
Every once in a blue moon, there's a piece that catches my eye and my gaze fails to look away. Such is the case with this c.1912 dresser I found at  the thrift store a few weeks ago. Observe.

 This is a usually the kind piece only found at estate sales. I'm so thankful its former owner decided to send it to my local thrift store instead. After paying full price, a whopping $25, this dresser came home with me looking like this. My gaze was still fixed upon the possibility of what it might become.

  The dresser is solid wood with dovetail joints, curvy legs, original pulls and ornate details. It has all the features that DIYers like me go gaga over. The wood on top has seen better days though.

 And though I love that striped wood drawer and two tone stain, that brownish-orange stain just wasn't doing it for me.

 She even came with the original "wood" casters on each leg, but one of the wheels is long gone. I'm still trying to get an original caster for this period piece, but so far it won't be rolling any time soon.

First things first. Sanding. I used my power sander with 150 grit sandpaper then moved to 220. Those hard to reach places, I had to sand by hand. Smooth, smooth, smooth is what I wanted, but with all the ornate details not all the old stain would be coming off.

 The dresser was in really good shape, but there were small areas where wood filler was needed. This is my fave wood filler to use on projects.

So people ask all the time how do I pick paint colors and how do I know what to stain, what to paint, what to change? Sometimes I know right away what to do; other times I'm not so sure. That's where pinterest and etsy help. I always look on those sights to get some ideas and inspiration. With this piece, I painted it a navy blue first but it just didn't look right. So I re-sanded and started over.             I always reserve the right to change my mind.

The wood on top and striped drawer was lightly stained in walnut. The rest got two coats of classic black paint I had on hand.

The pulls and legs got a few coats of gold spray paint. Love this stuff. I want to spray everything gold right now!

I taped off the legs and covered the rest of the piece with a towel to get that "dipped" look.

 And to add to the gold loving going on, I used Liquid Leaf to fill in the drawer details. You can find this for a few dollars at places like Hobby Lobby. A steady hand is needed so take your time and drink less coffee when you do this.

 It turned out prettier and better than I ever imagined!

 The entire piece also got two coats of polycrylic. The wood just looks beautiful.

I brushed a little bit of that gold leaf onto the 2nd drawer detail. Love. Love. Love.

Tell me again how we should never paint wood. 

Tell me what you think.

Blessings,

Lisa