3.02.2012

Fast Fix Friday: Updating a Painted Dresser

This is a great low-effort project that made all the difference in our upstairs den, which is a combination home office and guest room. We’ve made a lot of progress in our den, (it was previously our children’s nursery) but most of the work so far has focused on the desk and bookshelf wall – basically “the office” part of the room. Now it’s time to start looking at the other parts of the room.



Throughout the nursery-to-den conversion process I’ve been trying to keep the costs low or non-existent. This project is no different. We started with a pretty blank slate, but knew that we needed some storage for our guests when this is used as supplemental sleeping space for visitors. I may end up using the bottom drawer for craft storage or giftwrap supplies currently stored in the messy closet. We will have some hanging space in the closet once it’s cleaned up, but a dresser is handy too. Fortunately, we had this old dresser hanging out in our (very messy) attic. In fact, when I opened the drawers, it was still loaded with giftwrap supplies. I guess I bought new ones and totally forgot I had these!

The dresser lived in our guest room prior to our renovation and in our two apartments before that – both as a media stand and as a dresser in our second bedroom/office. The dresser originally came from my grandmother’s basement and may have belonged to her mother before that. It was originally painted a hideous brown/black color that I stripped off before moving it to our apartment. So, long story short… it’s really old. (My blog readers may also recognize the mirror that now resides in our half-bath!)
Unfortunately the dresser was not in great shape. My Handy Hubby went to work regluing joints, fixing the drawers, and making sure the drawers slid more easily and didn’t fall out too easily. It wasn’t much work fortunately. I decided not to fill any of its exterior imperfections because I liked its rustic-ness.

These dovetail joints are so neat, I had to show them.

Next I gave the whole thing a very light sanding. Then I brushed on three thin coats of metallic dark gray-silver paint with about 2 hours of dry time between each.

It didn’t look so hot after the first coat but my experience with metallic paint on my bathroom ceiling taught me that the coverage is poor but patience pays off. Fortunately it dries quickly so you can do multiple coats in a day. Honestly, this could have probably used one more coat but I’m not going to sweat it since this is the guest room.
Just a few hours before my parents arrived for the weekend, we moved the dresser into place.

The hardware was picked up at a local hardware store for about $20 for 10 knobs. I only needed 6 but it was a better deal than buying them individually. I love how they highlight the metallic paint. With a little bit of styling I think it really works in this room both for function and design.

I purchased the original watercolor from a wonderful artist at the Adirondack Balloon Festival. It has been waiting to find a home in my house until now. The mat works perfectly with the wall color and the frame was given to me by mom for another project but it works well for this one so I decided to use it here instead.

I still want to line the drawers with pretty paper so guests do not have to worry about snagging their clothes on the slightly rough drawer bottoms. Now I just have to save my pennies for a rug and pull-out sofa!

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Linking to: Primitive and Proper