S did the dirty work by stripping and sanding it, taking off two really thick layers of old paint (cream on top and dark green underneath) and the original stain. He also replaced the bottoms of the two large drawers, as they were a bit warped. The top was much nicer than the rest of the dresser, which was rather banged up, so I decided to focus the most care on getting the top stain-ready and then I just puttied, primed and painted the rest. (Don't worry -- I wore a mask and gloves and used low-VOC products when possible!) The black iron drawer pulls are from Lowe's.
I'm pretty thrilled with how it turned out. Not bad for $50 (plus the cost of new drawer pulls). High five to S for the teamwork on this one. For reference, here is the original photo from craigslist. I was too lazy/busy/preoccupied to take one myself...
Let me add that I'm SO glad to have this done! The past couple days I've felt like I could go into labor at any moment (as of Thursday I was 1cm dilated and 70% effaced), and I really wanted to get this project finished beforehand because a) we really needed the storage, and b) I wasn't sure when I'd have time to finish it once the baby arrives. S has been trying to rein me in and keep me from over-exerting myself and bringing on labor too soon -- we need more time for the kitchen and laundry rooms! -- so taking frequent and lengthy breaks didn't help my progress very much.
Finishing it on time was a nice little victory -- the fact that I love the end result is the icing on the cake!
It looks awesome. :) I love the curvy drawers in the front. and I think staining the top was the way to go - love the contrast! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat dresser looks fabulous! :D The iron pulls are a great touch, and the dark top really sets off the piece!
ReplyDeleteAnd, oh gosh, you sound about ready to lie down and go into labor! Be careful, and let S smother you a little bit. :)
I really love the dark stained top as well. Goes perfectly with the rustic farmhouse feel of the rest of the home. How fun that you're feeling she could arrive at any day! I'm probably more excited than I should be considering we have never met. :)
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you all!
ReplyDeleteAnd Jen, I will be sure to keep you posted. :-)
It looks great! I'm a little jealous because I have been wanting to re-do some great find so bad and it hasn't come up yet!
ReplyDeleteJen, it took me SO LONG to find something I liked for the right price. The thrifting here isn't very good, and craigslist isn't much better--not to mention frustrating! I would respond to a craigslist post within an hour after it was listed, and the item would already be gone. One finally worked out after lots of failure!
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