DIY + Reveal :: Repurposed Old Dresser
Today I'm sharing a really fun project -- how to DIY and repurpose an old dresser! This was a project I've been wanting to do for the last four years and I finally convinced my husband to get it done. I mean, honestly you guys, there is nothing like a grumpy nagging pregnant wife to get a husband into gear. I think the only reason he even attempted to do this was because I would not stop talking about how ugly this dresser was. When he finally agreed to tackle it and I was ecstatic! We had a few mishaps along the way (I'll be sharing those, so y'all can learn from our mistakes), but it turned out amazing and I'm so excited to share what it looks like now, I can hardly wait.
Before The Project Began
You see what I'm saying? This dresser was just awful looking. I mean, it had character, but it was a worn out, historical figure type of character. I didn't have the heart to throw it out because this dresser was my childhood dresser and I grew attached to its sturdiness and reliability -- what can I say, it became a sentimental piece. It's been through some stuff though, so the first step we took was to sand all that history away.
Sanded & Looking Fresh
It's already looking like a whole new dresser, am I right? To achieve this step, we took all the handles off the dresser and then borrowed my dad's orbital sanding tool. We went to Home Depot and bought very fine sanding paper to get all that gunk off the dresser and after we sanded it, we went to find the paint color -- and here is where we had allllllll our mishaps.
Mishap No. One :: Not Standing Our Ground
I went to Home Depot to find the paint color I was envisioning -- a green with some blue hints to it. This being the first time I've ever bought paint to paint something other than on a canvas, I was a bit lost and had no idea what to do. Naturally, I went and asked a person who worked in the paint aisle for assistance after I got the color card I was going for.
I probably stumbled on some workers that were either bothered that I was interrupting them or were having a bad day because when I showed them my paint card, they angrily told me they'd have to tint that.
I had no idea what that meant, but before I could even ask, a worker grabbed an oil based can of hunter green and stuffed it in front of my face and told me this was the closest color they had to what I was looking for.
Me, being oblivious and slightly embarrassed that I put them in such a foul mood, thanked them and bought what they gave me because I thought they were actually helping. Buuuuuuuut, then I got home and my husband put on the first coat of paint. We were both silently shocked with the result -- we had just painted our dresser the ugliest Christmas green I had ever seen. I hated it so much, I couldn't even document it in picture form, it was that bad.
While I do get that Hunter Green is typically super green, the band on the paper of the can was much greener looking than what was now on my dresser. After paying 60$ on a can of paint, I silently grumbled to myself and mourned my vision until my husband asked if I liked it -- to which I couldn't lie and admitted it's not what I was picturing in my mind.
He graciously called Home Depot and asked if they could still tint a can we recently bought and they said yes, so we took it back hoping that things were gonna work out. Welllllll, hopes dashed because get this -- you can't tint pre-made colors. The good news was that we could paint over the oil-based paint, so we didn't have to resand the dresser. If the first can would have been water based, we would have been in trouble.
Anyways, we ended up buying another can of paint -- this time tinted and the color I actually wanted.
Mishap No. Two :: Buying To Much Paint
Again, totally oblivious here -- we bought a gallon of paint each time. We would have been okay with just a quart, but now we have 120$ worth of paint in our garage. I'm pretty mad about the christmas green color, but I feel like the second can of paint will come in handy. I'm thinking about going to thrift / secondhand stores to find mini side table drawers that I can repurpose to match the dresser.
Mishap No. Three :: Painting Outside
Because I was pregnant, I decided that I didn't want paint fumes in the house. Painting in the garage wasn't an option either as we have a bunch of boxes down there with no space to spare, so we had to paint outside. It was funny that the moment we started to get this project going, the weather decided that it wasn't going to agree with us.To start, it was humid day and right after we finished painting, clouds rolled in.... and it started to rain! Luckily we were outside when it did, so we managed to move all the drawers before they got soaked and stopped the water from ruining the paint. Because of the humidity, it also took a few extra hours to dry, so if you're ever painting outside, make sure it's on a sunny with now rainy suprises.
Painting & Getting New Handles
Regardless of the weather being ridiculous, we got the dresser painted and I loved the turnout. It was the perfect shade of green and it looked gorgeous! I was so ready to spray paint the handles, buuuuut I ran into another mishap.
Mishap No. Three & Four :: The Actual Handles
I bought some gold spray paint and just went to town on the painting. The mishap came when I realized that the handles were covering the plate, so I went in to spray them again and the coating ended up being way too thick and the paint started to peel and look clunky. I tried to scrape and wash off the paint to start again, but I epically failed.
So, I went to Amazon to find new handles for my repurposed dresser. If you end up getting new handles for an old dresser -- make sure to measure the distance between the holes of the handles if there is more than one screw hole. That's super important when ordering them online.
Since I was going to get new handles, I decided to put a modern twist to it and brass gold handles. I got these handles off of Amazon and I love them. They're sturdy and heavy, but I landed in my fourth mishap with these online handles.
The screws were not long enough for my dresser, so we took another trip to Home Depot, only to realize that these handles were made with European metrics and there wasn't any size at the store that would match up with our metrics 100%. We ended up asking a Home Depot associate and bought new screws that were as close as possible to the handles I had from Amazon.
The Finished Product
We went home, installed the handles and people... we have a dresser and I am so excited about it! It's everything that I wanted it to be. The handles, the look of the matte color, the way it came together -- I am just sooooo happy with the finished product! It's the perfect addition to our bedroom. We're using it as a changing table for baby and storing all the newborn / breastfeeding supplies I need throughout the day in it.
Even though this project is completed, I have a basket and the empty wall above the dresser that I still need to decorate. In addition to the decorating, I am looking for a rug and a rocking chair to place in the room next to Alex's crib since our bedroom is also a mini nursery for the time being. The dresser is the piece that will bring the room together and I can't wait to share that with you guys as well when it's all come together!
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