Pages

Wednesday, November 17

A Dresser Makeover - And Some Changes!

It's been a while, and we've made some changes! First, we bought a house which means I have plenty of projects to come, many of which are started but not finished. Oops. Second, we have a baby on the way! Which means even more projects! So you could say we've been a little preoccupied as of late.

But I have one project finished! This is a dresser that used to belong to one of my aunts who passed away when I was little and it has been passed down to me. Side note: her name was Linda Lou, but everyone called her Boo Boo. I know, you wish you had an Aunt Boo Boo, too. But back to the dresser! I thought it would be perfect for all the little clothes we'll need for baby-on-the-way, plus it's short enough we could let it do double duty as a changing table.

 As you can see, it's not too pretty to look at, though. But that is fixed easily enough! I decided to stain the bottom part of it darker and paint the top a nice glossy white (to match the white crib). The veneer on the top had cracked and peeled so I ended up pulling it all off and sanding it down before I painted. You can see in the picture that the top looks different. That's why.


Here is a progress picture showing the newly stained base next to an unstained drawer. Big improvement, huh? I don't know why this picture is sideways. I can't figure out how to make it straight! After I stained the whole thing I added a coat of polyurethane all over, and a coat inside the drawers to seal in any old dresser smells. I used a great water based polyurethane from Lowe's that had the faintest smell while wet, but was totally odorless as soon as it dried. No stink in my baby's room, please!


This project didn't really take long at all. I spent more time waiting for it to dry than I did working on it.


I think it turned out beautiful and will be great in baby's room. I like that it looks completely updated, but still has a traditional style. Plus I love that it has a story behind it. 


Here is the pretty white top. And since I always learn important lessons when I do new projects, here is my lesson from this one: If you are painting bare wood, use a primer! The wood bled yellow through my paint pretty badly. It took four coats to hide it.  But in the end it worked out okay, and I know for next time!


The last thing I did was replace the old hardware with some new brushed nickle knobs from Lowe's. I went a little modern with the knobs, but it works. This is all we have done for baby's room so far, but we have big plans so I'll keep you posted. We have plenty of time to get it done, right? :)

3 comments:

  1. I like it, keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. beautiful! what kind of paint did you use for the top? spray paint or latex with a brush?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks! I used glossy latex. I did it with a small roller so I wouldn't get brush strokes left behind.

    ReplyDelete