Tuesday, July 17, 2012

From Dresser to Entertainment Stand



A few weeks ago we spent a Saturday shopping at some garage sales and estate sales in our neighborhood. It was hot and after trekking around without much luck we were ready to go home. We were heading back to our house when we saw an estate sale sign posted about 2 blocks from our house. We decided to swing through one more sale and what luck we had. They had the most beautiful dresser that I just could not walk away from.


It had a HUGE mirror attached and they were asking $75 for it. I asked if they were willing to sell it with out the mirror but the woman in charge said she didn't know what she would do with just the mirror and instead offered the whole set to me for $60. I was sold. 


It had a little damage on the top but I knew I could sand it even. I wanted to create an entertainment stand with the dresser so I didn't mind having to sand the whole piece. 


I spent the afternoon sanding the dresser down. I removed all the drawers and removed all the remaining hardware from the top 2 drawer openings. We also drilled a hole for wires in both of the openings. Then I began the process of applying 2 coats of primer. Unfortunately for us, it was starting to rain so the priming had to be done in our dining room. 



I let this dry overnight and then began applying the color the next morning. I applied 2 coats of an off-white paint on the inside of the opened drawers, 2 coats of turquoise paint on the dresser and some off white on the details on both front legs. I then covered the piece with Polycrilic and left it to dry overnight. 



I began working on the drawers during the week while my little guy was napping. I removed all of the hardware and sanded, primed, painted and protected the drawers. 





I was going to purchase new hardware but the more I worked with the dresser the more I loved the uniqueness of the handles. I decided to refinish the handles for their own fresh pop of color. I laid the handles out on some cardboard and primed, painted and varnished with spray paint. 




As all of the handles dried I decided to line the drawers. I found a beautiful natural wrapping paper with white flowers vines in my stash that I thought would add a nice surprise to the drawers. To line drawers with wrapping paper (or fabric or other paper) simply use your drawer to trace a shape on the paper. Cut it out and then trim it to fit perfectly in the drawer. 



Apply a coat of Mod-Podge to the bottom of the drawer and lay paper onto bottom of drawer while smoothing out all of the winkles. Let this dry overnight and then follow up with 1-2 coats of Mod-Podge on top of the paper. 


I then re-attached all of the handles . . . so close to finished. 


The last piece to complete the project was to add some side walls inside my open shelves. My husband cut out 2 pieces of hardboard which I painted in the same off-white that was on the inside of the shelves. Using wood glue and clamps we attached the side walls. 



Finally . . . all done and so much better than I could have imagined when I first started. I think this is by far my favorite piece of furniture in our house!   :)    


The best part . . . our TV is now safely out of reach of our little man (don't worry . . . we still used safety straps though . . . you can never be too careful)! 


Linking up to:
Homespun Happenings
Pin It

2 comments:

  1. Wow! what a beautiful dresser! Now you have a unique and lovely entertainment cabinet!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for sharing this at Rustic Restorations Weekend!

      Delete