Worn and Weathered -sort of like a Cowhide

A Client brought a vintage, bland dresser to me and wanted it to have an old look with some character.   

Before:

She liked the chippy milk paint look, but also liked a worn out look like old leather or cowhide.  She loves cowhide rugs!  The dresser had lots of blue marks and was pretty stained up, but the base color was a linen/beige.  I decided to try something that did not involve painting the dresser and luckily my client said "go for it".  

I was picturing a cow hide/old pair of cowboy boots kind of look.  I pulled out my hand sander and started to sand the blue markes off and to get through the top layer of the paint. 

I sanded and scraped through the layers of paint and stains until the pine showed up in places.  I liked the layered/worn look and decided to use the same technique on the whole dresser.  It was a lot of arm work for sure! 

After sanding and scraping, until my arms felt like they were going to fall off, I sealed the dresser with dark wax/Lindseed oil.  

My client absolutely loved the layered, worn, weathered look of her dresser.  

I love that my client let me try something out that I had envisioned in my head, and that she LOVED it-she said it reminded her of her favorite cowhide rug!  

Linking up with:

tidbits

frenchcountrycottage

adirondackgirlatheart
poofingthepillows
inthenewhouse
thepainteddrawer
stonegableblog
cozylittlehouse
adirondackgirlatheart
mysalvagedtreasures
savvysouthernstyle
poofingthepillows
thecuratorscollection