Dresser Redo

I'm not sure what has gotten into me within this past year- but I think I have realized my passion for DIY projects. Maybe I should blame it on the addiction I have for the blogs Young House Love and Bower Power. The first time I heard about YHL I'm pretty sure I was on it for 4 days straight, reading every post from the very beginning. Maybe it's the reason I started my blog in the first place, being able to chronicle life's moments and projects as you go along. Although our blog usually lends itself on the family experiences end rather than projects, I like to think that sometimes I have a nifty idea to share once in a while.

This summer I finally crossed a project off my list that has been there for the past year and a half. You see my dad gave me this dresser when I moved into a house my senior year of college. It was his when he was little and has a bit of sentimental value attached to it. However it was in need of some love. After Dad's approval, I was ready for this project.

You see the top of the dresser was scratched, and the drawer handles were mismatched and wonky. The inside lining was straight out of 1965, and whoever decided to paint it used different shades of brown to try and match the wood.



My initial idea was to stain this sucker. Since it is real wood (and heavy enough to prove it). However, I realized that we'll probably be transitioning furniture in the guest rooms in the future, and finding furniture to match a particular stain might be tough- however white would be much easier. So...I decided on paint instead.

Luckily I already had the same cozy cottage color on hand from our Kitchen cabinet re-do and decided to use that along with our wood primer. So the cost of this project was quite low.

First I had to sand off the layer of paint and scratches, so all of the drawers came out.


And it was time to get my sand on. How many DIYers do you know sand with a glittery tank top and a ponytail?

I used our little Ryobi hand sander- which I would highly recommend. However, I should've done this project in phases because my hand was numb after an hour of sanding vibration.

After a good sanding, I was left with this...

She definitely needed to be wiped down before I started the priming process.

And after one coat of primer she was looking pretty.


And since I had drawers to paint as well, by the time I was done with the drawers the dresser frame was dry and ready for paint!

awww- doesn't that look better already? Now after it's second coat of paint, it turned out like this-

After only 3 hours of work and spray painting the handles an oil rubbed bronze, I was finished!

I added in some cute green paper liner to replace the old stuff, and voila, I was done!

Turned out pretty cute if you ask me!