Beach House Furniture Addiction

I have a new infatuation. You ever painted furniture before? Let me just say that I was so intimidated to do this, even though I had no good reason to be. All I needed was someone to give me the confidence and a few pointers and I was hooked! That friend was Sheri Epps of Sheri Epps Designs in downtown Vista. If you haven't been to her shop yet, it's charming, and she is a doll.I bought this old antique dresser from Sheri (it was the first antique she ever bought for herself when she was 18) and had grand plans of painting white and yellow stripes. I did a test and immediately realized stripes weren't right for this piece. So we went with the distressed look.
I sanded it down and slopped on one quick, uneven coat of three types of white: a pinkish one, a bluish one, and a stark white paint. Once it was dry, I sanded it again with my palm sander. A coat of sealer and $100 worth of Anthropologie knobs and voila! Here is the before picture of the turquoise dresser I promised: (I caught the kitties like this when I stepped out for like 2 seconds). I've had this with it's bedroom set since I was two years old.


And here is the after. This was also sanded, with 2 coats of primer (even more plus some Zinsser on the top to hide a water ring) and 2 coats of semigloss Poolside Blue from Benjamin Moore.
And because I couldn't stop, I found this nightstand on the curb and busted out the separator piece that once held a drawer. I didn't have any more primer so I painted it a lovely ivory, and when I added the Poolside Blue, I kept the inside detail on the front white, just because.Now it sits outside our front door, waiting to help empty an armful of groceries or an iced chai latte from Starbucks while I fumble for my keys.

But now I feel like I can take on an army of ugly wood...next I have the kitchen cabinets, dining room table and hutch to paint. I can't stop! It's so great!

What have you painted? Do you have horror stories, or was it simple cake?