An Antique Dresser Turned Island in Pale Aqua

Step 1 when you're refinishing a case piece is to remove the drawers.  When I remove the drawers on the older pieces, I often wonder how many years, decades, generations, it's been since they were last fully taken out. If you ever want to find something you've lost, take the drawers all the way out of your dresser- because, it's there. As I take the drawers out of these dressers I'll find all sorts of objects that were lost years and years and years ago. It's like a secret time capsule. One of the things I found in this antique dresser was so sweet and poignant that it changed my plans for the whole piece.

I had originally planned to paint this piece a tan, with a golden oak top:

But then I took the drawers out and I found two very personal objects, a handwritten address book from 1956 and a hand painted chinoiserie silk scarf. 

I was so struck by finding these pieces, and later a penny from 1911 wedged against a backboard glue block, that I decided I needed to give the objects a little nod.
     I custom mixed a color to precisely match the color of the silk scarf, which is a soft teal, with equal parts green and blue. (and of course, the scarf, penny, and address book will go with the island to its next home)

Here's the result: