We had an old dresser that had been used by everyone in my family - my parents, both brothers, and myself at different points in our lives. It was pretty rough looking and there was a significant amount of sticker reside that I didn't want to mess with. But also this dresser couldn't really be used as-is anymore.
So out comes the chalk paint -
I did no prep work. I didn't clean off the sticker residue at all. I just painted right over it and thats one of the reasons I like chalk paint - it covers stuff up nicely. The directions will tell you to clean the surface before painting, but I have never had a problem so far.
I had a small jar of light gray chalk paint that I had purchased (before I realized that I could make my own). I painted the top drawer with that, then added a small amount of black to make the color darker as I painted the next two drawers. I also had some black chalk paint already mixed, so I used that for the bottom drawer and the top of the dresser here. I also put a clear-coat of polycrylic (on the top surface only) when I use chalk-paint because people tend to set drinks on there and that doesn't mix well with chalk paint.
I kept the body of the dresser and the knobs the original dark wood color. I touched up a few of the wooden knobs with similar brown craft paint that I had around, that happened to match perfectly!
Now I can use this dresser in my bedroom and not have to worry about it looking gross!
