Old 2 New:: Dresser Re-do From Caroline Green

Today's Old 2 New is a bit different than usual. My fabulous friend Caroline is here today to tell us about her first furniture transformation.



Caroline has been my thrifting/antiquing buddy. Not sure if she enjoys it as much as I do or if she's just going along to humor me, ha! Either way, I always enjoy her company and her witty sense of humor (which you are about to experience).

Let's hear what Miss Caroline has to say about her most recent project!

I live in an old house. Old houses equal small closets. Lately I've been feeling really agitated about the storage space situation in my old house. STUFF seemed to be taking over. And since I obviously need all 14 of my black tank tops, the only solution I could come up with was to acquire another dresser in which to keep said tank tops.

So my friend Megan (you know her--this is her blog) encouraged me to pursue a DIY project. I thought "Hey, that's budget friendly. And also super green (as in, environmentally responsible--I love that stuff)." And thus, my DIY dresser dream was born.

Meg and I spent a couple of weekends thrifting. Here's a pointer: if you see a piece you like, don't walk away and assume it'll still be there a few hours later. Learned that one the hard way... But eventually I found this little gem:


(Please excuse the iPhone photos--my DSLR camera prefers to remain zipped up in its case at the top of my closet and never used.)

I removed the hardware, hauled it out to the back deck and started sanding. The top had a sort of laminate finish so I had to go after it with a power disc sander, courtesy of Megan's dad, circa 1988. Here's another pointer: double check the disc size you need to avoid walking in and out of Home Depot four times in seven and a half minutes. Here it is post-rubdown: 

Remember back in the day on Trading Spaces when Genevieve would make such a huge deal about revealing the paint color she had chosen? That's kind of how I felt when I opened my paint can, except it was only to show my two roommates and it already had a color-coded dot on the lid. But I'm going to pretend I'm doing a big reveal right now:

I selected this fabulous sunny yellow--Behr Lemon Tart.

I opted against priming because I didn't want white paint showing through if I distressed it a little...and I was getting impatient. Sanding is hard work! But here's a third pointer: Not priming plus using a light paint color does mean at least three coats. After deciding I painted enough--I mean, it was never going to look perfect, right?--I sanded down the edges and corners in a very "natural wear and tear" kind of way, slapped a semi-gloss polyurethane on top to give it just the right about of sheen (and protection of course), and added some new brushed nickel cup pulls.

Voila!

Oh, and the ultimate finishing touch: pretty drawer liner. I mean, I don't know where this thing has been... 

I would consider myself a DIY rookie, and while I wouldn't say it was easy, I would say if you have an idea, and little sweat and a little patience--and an encouraging friend doesn't hurt either--you can probably make it happen.

Great job Caroline! When Caroline found this dresser at our local Goodwill I immediately recognized it. Why, you ask? It's the same dresser I had in my nursery as a child...that my mom still has in one of her bedrooms. Mom, if you're reading this, do you see the potential for your old dressers? Let's try our hand at painting yours too ;)

P.S. I'm so glad my dad's 1988 sander came in handy.... and still works!

P.P.S. You should follow Caroline on twitter. You won't regret it. Especially when the Bachelor franchise is on, her episode recaps are quite entertaining :)