It's Themed Furniture Makeover time and it's all about ANIMALS! This one gave me a run for my money. Honestly, it was a little out of my comfort zone but it is good for creative folks to stretch themselves. Sometimes, a little push is all it takes to make huge leaps.

I found this Henry Link French Provincial chest of drawers on a local yard sale site and they were practically giving it away. I wasn't sure at first if it would be a fit for the animal theme but it was too good a deal to pass up.

At first, my idea was to paint the entire chest black and then add some leopard knobs. After mulling that over a bit, I decided that was not exactly stretching myself.

Early one morning, an idea hit me while I was drinking my coffee. I don't know about you, but my most creative time is always first thing in the morning. I usually scare the heck out of Triple Threat when I should out "I've got it!"

My painting friend, Jennifer Ferguson, at Artistic Painting Studio, has a brilliant line of textured rollers and I remembered seeing a crocodile version.

Crocodile Roller courtesy of Artistic Painting Studio

Jennifer had posted on her Artistic Painting Studio Facebook page this sample of cabinets doors she finished with the crocodile roller and they were simply stunning.

Cabinet Door Samples with Crocodile Roller by Artistic Painting Studio

So, there was my big idea...use the crocodile roller to emboss the drawer fronts! Jennifer was kind enough to send me the crocodile roller and the Proceed SAT medium needed to apply the texture.

The chest was in near perfect condition except for one of the drawer fronts had fallen off. Thanks to Triple Threat's ginormous collection of clamps, it was a quick and easy fix.

Once I gave the chest a thorough cleaning, I started with a base coat of DecoArt chalky finish in Carbon. With such great coverage, I only needed one coat! I really don't paint sideways but I was multi-tasking painting and taking this picture!

I used a trowel to apply the Proceed SAT medium to the drawer fronts being mindful not to apply too light or too heavy.

Keeping a bucket of water handy, I dipped the crocodile roller into the water each time before rolling through the medium. After rolling each drawer, I rinsed off the excess medium in the water bucket so it wouldn't build up on the roller.

I let the texture dry overnight and gave it a light sanding to knock off any high places. Then I applied one coat of Modern Masters Antique Bronze.

Once the bronze paint was dry, I used General Finishes Pitch Black glaze to give some depth to the detailing.

A few of the original drawer pulls were missing so I needed to find replacements pretty quickly. These Hobby Lobby knobs were almost perfect since the back plate would cover the existing holes but the color (although pretty) didn't match my color scheme.

Not to worry, I knew I could transform them with a little faux finishing layers of black, copper and gold. I actually love them more now than the original version!

After attaching all the hardware and putting the drawers back together, I am crazy proud of this rockin' chest of drawers.

CHEST OF DRAWERS WITH CROCODILE DRAWER FRONTS

Typically, French Provincial pieces are nice and traditional but the crocodile texture gives it some modern pizzazz, which I adore!

Are you doing the crocodile rock now? The crocodile roller was so much fun to experiment with! Artistic Painting Studio has such a fun collection of decorative rollers. You definitely need to check out the rest of them here.