Dressin’ Up

When you find a dresser on Craigslist for $10, you buy it.  Well, I do.  Especially when it’s solid wood with dove-tailed drawers and clean lines.  Yes. 

But you also get what you pay for.  This guy was in need of serious work.  And he reeked of curry.  Don’t be fooled into thinking he was all cute and chipper…

To eliminate the odor and give myself some time to figure out what in the world I was going to do with him, I left him in our garage for several months.  I didn’t really intend for his time out to last so long, but that’s kind of the way it goes for me anymore.  Can you relate? 

Lately I’ve really been into the two-toned look of paint paired with stain.  Ummhmm.  It’s a bit of a cottagey look, which I also love.  This photo ended up being my inspiration from LizMarieBlog. 

It was basically the kick in the pants I needed in order to get started—which was pretty daunting since it required some steps that I’ve never done before, like stripping and staining. 

Although painting is the most rewarding part of the refinishing process for me—since you see such a major change in such a short amount of time—I knew that in order to bring this dresser fully back to life, I needed to strip it down to the bare bones.  To do this, I used paint stripper (a first for me), and then I sanded it with 60 grit and finally 220 grit paper.  I wasn’t sure that the 220 grit was necessary, but it brought such a lovely smooth finish to the wood that I will definitely use it on future projects. 

As usual, things got worse before they got better…

Then I gave everything a coat of primer and several coats of paint (one coat of Minwax Jacobean stain on the drawer fronts—I let it sit for about 10 minutes before wiping it off), plus some polyurethane on the top, as it tends to be the most heavily used part of the dresser.  Then I painted the inside of the drawers and added some hex-like contact paper that I snagged at HomeGoods.  Glass knobs from Hobby Lobby were the final touch. 

Love!

Sadly, even though I tried multiple times to find the perfect spot for him in our home, it was a lost cause.  Our house is small and cramming it just emphasizes that fact.  I tried selling him at our yard sale last weekend, and while lots of people expressed interest, only one guy was willing to pay more than the usual $5 yard sale price, but he never came back for it.  So I put the dresser on Craigslist and got loads of interest!  I was so happy to send him off with a sweet young mom and her son tonight—and I was really glad that the semi-creepy guy didn’t end up with it at our yard sale.  I think our dresser found his rightful home.  *Happy sigh.*

Projects like this are about getting my hands dirty and enjoying the process of redeeming a piece.  If I kept every knick and knack that I redid, our house would be overflowing with stuff, so it’s really fun for me to find ways to give and sell it to others.  In case you’re wondering, this project took me several months of on and off work, as I had to squeeze it in during Liam’s naps.  It could definitely be done in less time, but if you’re a mom like me, it’s at least nice to know that it can be done—just take your time.  : )

*ACE Hardware occasionally gives away free quarts of their Clark & Kensington paint, so I snagged Colonial Blue and used it on this dresser.  Although it’s a flat paint, it actually has the quality of a satin finish.*

A final before and after…