Natalie at My Vintage Porch was purging her garage a few months ago, and I was lucky enough to snag this little dresser. She had no drawers, her once curvy top and the bottom of her legs had been trimmed off as if someone had put her into a tight space that she was a bit too wide for. She was dirty and chipping and also had no back. Let's just say that most people would throw her away because she is just too damaged.
But I saw past that. I saw her curvy details, what her future could look like.
I started by taking off her top. Lucky for me it was as easy as unscrewing a few screws. Then I went to work taking apart the first drawer support. I thought this was going to be easy... as it had been in the past. Well, I thought wrong. Everything was glued and did not want to come apart. But I had started, so I couldn't go back.
I finally finished taking out the drawer support and eagerly moved on to the next step. It was time to cut some wood. I needed to make the insides look a bit more polished, so I cut some leftover bead board to fit on the top inside sides and then cut some thin plywood to fit into the rest of the inside sides. Then I got to work cutting my trusty cedar fencing to fit as my new shelves. I love how they look like pallet wood, without having to take apart old pallets. Once all the wood was cut, I sanded everything down lightly with my trusty orbital sander. Then I attached the sides with my nail gun and finishing nails so it could be painted with the dresser. I laid the cedar out on flattened out boxes and stained the tops and sides in dark walnut and let them dry.
As for the top, when I went to home depot to get my plywood, I made sure to ask a kind worker to cut the large piece down to size for me. I also did this for the back piece of bead board. I love doing this because it's free and then I don't have to do anything when I get home. Whenever I remember to get it cut there I am always very happy when I get home and I don't have to cut any big pieces of wood. I brought my wood home and then cut my piece of trim to fit around the edges of the plywood to cover the not so pretty edges. I attached the trim with my nail gun and finishing nails. Then I grabbed the screws and attached the new top to the dresser.
Once all the building was complete, I got out the wood filler and filled in anything that needed to disappear. I let it all dry and then I grabbed the orbital sander and sanded it all down good. I had to get rid of the sticky stuff that was on the sides and smooth out the outside of her legs where they had been trimmed off by a previous owner. Every part of her got sanded down until she was smooth. I wiped her down and got out the white and pretty grey "oops" paint I had found at Lowes. I mixed them into chalk paint and got to painting. She took 1 coat of white and then two coats of grey paint. Then I waited for her to completely dry. Once again I grabbed my sander and lightly started to distress her. I usually don't distress with my orbital sander, but I was tired and sick of sanding by hand. I'm so glad I took the orbital sander to her though. She needed that extra distressing that the sander provided.
I wiped her down and attached all of the stained cedar wood and the new bead board backing. Finally I gave her a good coat of water based polyurethane and let her dry for the last time.
This is one of those pieces that even my husband says we should keep. He loves it almost as much as I do. I love how different it is, yet how functional it still is. You can add cute baskets to hide your possessions, or show them off on your pretty little shelves.
Next time I hope you can see potential in an old dresser, and even if you don't want to do the work, maybe pass it on to someone else who can. These pieces have the best stories!
-Natalie
Labels: DIY
