White-Painted Tallboy Transformation in Leatherhead

The customer stood the white-painted tallboy back in its spot beside the bed, ran a hand down the front of the top drawer, and just looked at it for a moment. That's usually how we know a job's landed right. This one came to us from a Leatherhead bedroom that was crying out for a lighter touch. The tallboy itself was a lovely old thing — a classic dark hardwood piece, most likely an African hardwood, and probably fifty years old or more. It was tall, taller than most tallboys we see, which made it a brilliant fit for a room that needed height and storage without eating up floor space.

Eight generous drawers, all still running beautifully smooth after half a century, and finished with a set of handsome oval drawer pulls that were far too good to lose. The brief was simple: keep every bit of that character, lose the dark wood, and give the customer a piece that would sit happily in a modern bedroom rather than looking like a hand-me-down from a different era.

White-Painted Tallboy: the Process

As with every project, we began with a thorough clean, then moved on to sanding. We worked a medium-grit paper over the flat drawer fronts and carcass, then switched to finer paper and a sanding block around the mouldings and the top, denibbing back any old wax or polish so the primer would have something to key into. Dark tropical hardwoods like this one carry a lot of natural oils and tannins, and left to their own devices those will bleed straight through a white finish over time. So we gave it a specialist stain-blocking primer, working it well into the end grain and the joinery, to seal the timber and stop any of that colour creeping back through months down the line.

With the primer dry, we applied an undercoat to build some body and even out the grain before the colour went on. For the topcoat we used a Dulux eggshell mixed to Farrow and Ball's Dimity, a soft, warm white that reads as crisp without feeling clinical — exactly the note this bedroom needed. We rolled the first coat onto the flat surfaces and worked the drawer fronts and mouldings with a Purdy brush, then left it to dry fully before a light sand with fine paper to knock back any dust nibs or brush marks. A second coat followed, and by the time it had dried the tallboy had gone from a piece of dark, dated hardwood to something that looked entirely at home in a contemporary bedroom.

Finishing Touches for the Tallboy Makeover

The original drawer pulls went straight back on once the paint had dried — there was no improving on them, and they give the white paint just the right amount of contrast. A final check over with a fine brush, a few strips of masking tape peeled away, and it was ready to go home.

Back in the bedroom, against pale walls and a linen headboard, it does exactly what tall furniture should do in a modern room: fills the corner, holds everything the customer needs, and doesn't shout about it. That quiet moment when she reached out and touched it is the reason we do this.

If you've got a dark old chest or wardrobe tucked away that deserves the same treatment, get in touch through the website and we'll give you a quotation. Because we paint your furniture.