Cherry Blossom tall dresser

I picked up this solid mahogany tall boy a few months back. I thought about doing it in black and white and had already primed the drawer fronts.  (I thought I had taken a before shot, but guess not.

This was your typical mahogany dresser with plenty of dings and scratches and broken hardware). 

But then I saw this one at Stilskin Studios...

....and I just had to have one!

I went with CeCe's "Vermont Slate" for the body and my own

turquoise chalk paint for the accents. 

The pinks are custom from acrylic paint of  pink and white, and Behr "Geranium" and white. 

I changed the angle while taking the below pic. 

Quite a difference in colors and saturation!

WARNING!!***PHOTO HEAVY BELOW****

 Like Stilskin, I too ordered my cherry blossom stencil from Royal Design Studios, as well as the bronze stenciling creme. 

The stencil is truly the best one I have ever used. Very strong. There are 5 sheets that depict

different branches and blossoms. And that stenciling creme is to die for! 

 I sanded down the top, stained with a dark walnut and used tung oil to finish it off. The right half
shows the tung oil, the left side raw.

 I had a little visitor while I was working.  Mr Mantis popped in one evening.

And if that weren't enough, I pulled out one of the drawers and found a molar cap wedged back there!

WTH??? How does someone misplace their tooth?????? EWWWWWWWWW!

 This piece had the neatest legs/feet. Talons gripping a ball! I did do some patch-repairs to the legs, but you can't even tell. 

In hindsight, I will never prime with white again unless I'm painting white. And yes, even with 

chalk paint you have to prime over this rich mahogany. It has a nasty habit of bleeding through. 

I went over key areas with my aqua (Behr "Gem Turquoise") before the Slate. 

 I had the hardest time with painting in this color! I must have painted the drawers 5-6 times each!
Everytime I lightly sanded, it just didn't look right. Splotchy. I tried everything. Even using steel wool.
I have never had such a time getting even looking coats. I used CeCe's because I love the way this
color gray waxes up. It's such a deep, rich charcoal, almost black.

The drawers got lined with 
complementary color fabric

And one last peek!

Linking up to all my faves below plus: betweennapsontheporch.net , my uncommon slice of suburbia, The Dedicated House , new house new home new life, Coastal Charm, The Shabby Creek Cottage, From my front porch to yours, House of Hepworths