Gavin's Dresser Remodel

This is a project I've been dying to do for quite awhile! As in...since I was pregnant with Gavin.

I wanted to find a good ol', solid wood dresser- and fix it up.
The problem was- I couldn't find a dresser that I liked.
We searched everywhere too- Craigslist, thrift stores, GoodWill...etc. No luck.

Since Gavin's due date was quickly approaching, we ended up buying a super cheap dresser from Target (I think it was Target??), yes, it even has plastic handles. CHEAP.
We figured it would get the job done until we found a nice dresser we liked (and it has).

Finally, Spring, otherwise known as Thrift sale season, rolled around and we were crossing our fingers for a nice, solid, wood dresser for cheap!

What do ya know, we finally found one!!!

$40.

Based off the tag on the back- it's a dresser built sometime pre-1950's! So it's a good ol', real wood, sturdy dresser!!

It needed a lot of TLC, but that's just what I was looking for!

I was truly, pathetically excited to give this old dresser new life!

It had a lot of scratches... all over... everywhere.

The top of the dresser had some chipping
on the edge, as you can see in this picture

Decently deep scratches... EVERYWHERE.

I wasn't worried about the scratches- they're nothing ~~a little~~ A LOT of sanding can't take care of!

And that's what I started with. A LOT of sanding.

I took out all of the drawers, took off all of the drawer knobs, and got to work sanding...

I used my electric sander and 100 grit sand paper, and sanded the crap out this dresser.

I did not want ONE scratch left over.

(I wanted this dresser to look brand-spankin' new for my little boy!)

Buh-Bye scratches!!! Hello gorgeous, fresh, smooth wood!!

I sanded until I was all the way through the old lacquer and finish, until I was down to the fresh wood. Some scratches were deep enough that I had to sand them down quite a bit to get them to disappear. But let me tell you- there is not ONE scratch left on that dresser!

My arms were so sore, and I sanded long enough that when I would turn the sander off to go do something else for a minute- my hands felt like they were still vibrating from the sander.

It's a LOT of sanding. But worth it, because it looked brand new!

In these next photos I wanted to show how amazing the wood looked after I sanded out all of the scratches and surface stains!
(...and that's just ONE little corner...it looked amazing)

So here it is after all the sanding was done.
I also sanded all of the dresser drawer fronts.
(I didn't paint the insides of the drawers- because they're a very nice looking wood- so that was an added plus, and saved me a lot of work!)

Now it was time to prime!!

I decided I wanted to paint everything except the very top of the dresser- I wanted to stain the top a nice, dark walnut color.

I used painters tape and newspaper and covered the top of the dresser to make sure no paint got on the wood that I would be staining later.

I rarely use spray paint to paint furniture- but I guess I had a wild hair, and decided to give it a try!

Why not right?!

I really just wanted to try it and see if I liked spray painting furniture better than painting with a brush...

Which I do have to say, I might like spray painting better.

The finish is flawless- if you take your time and do it right.

It's also way easier than trying to use a brush and get in all of the corners, cracks...etc.

Anyways...

I used Rustoleum's spray primer.

I did 2 coats- which it said you can do a second coat as soon as the first coat dries- so pretty much right away (which was really nice!).

I used a total of 3 spray cans of primer for the dresser and the drawer fronts.

(sorry, no pictures of priming because priming is boring and I guess I didn't think to take any...)

NOW THE FUN PART!!!

PAINTING!!!!

I used Rustoleom's Heirloom White...a very nice, off-white color.

This was my fancy workspace for the drawers...
yup, out in the yard.

I did 3 coats of Heirloom White.

In between coats, if there were any rough spots I noticed once it dried, I would take fine/finishing sand paper and sand it smooth...I also made sure to wipe the dresser and drawers down every time with a clean, dry cloth to make sure the surface was as clean, and smooth as possible!

What about the drawer knobs??

I opted for just painting the original drawer knobs with my Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint, instead of buying all new ones.

I did 4 coats of spray paint (following the dry time instructions from the can), then finished them off with 1 coat of "crystal clear" Rustoleum Polyurethane spray just for some added protection.

You would never know that these were the original WOOD knobs!