Funny story; I was out with my best friend the other day (my Dad) and as we were leaving the restaurant he reached into his pants pocket to check his phone. He’d missed a call from his girlfriend and he was so frustrated because his phone had been in his pocket the whole night.
I checked the settings for him and not only did he have it on ring, but he had it on vibrate as well.
This folks is the definition of “numb nuts”.
Oh I laughed! (Sorry Dad, that it was at your expense xo).
Okay, back to the reason you’re here which presumably isn’t to hear about my father’s lack of feeling in his extremities (one last chuckle), this “new-to-me” dresser I picked up about a month ago.
It’s gorgeous right?
It was actually in slightly better shape when I bought it from Kijiji for $40, but since then I used it as a work top while I painted the girls’ nightstands.
Regardless, after Hubby left, I was in need of storage to house the delicates and sock collection, so this baby was going to be the new-to-me dresser of my dreams.
Tough to believe right?
Then check this out:
Yup, solid maple top and drawers – no veneer here folks!
*Note: this post contains affiliate links to items I used. For full affiliate disclosure, please see sidebar.
I was able to get it down to bare wood by sanding with my random orbit sander
I did have to use a bit of Smart Strip
I like sanding though – with a bit of music going in the earphones, it’s mindless work with gratifying results.
I wanted to try out a new Rust-Oleum product that I hadn’t seen before so I used their Aged wood accelerator
In hindsight I wish I’d stopped here – the finish was beautiful, but the game plan was for something slightly more grey, so I went over this (once dry) with a grey gel stain.
Don’t get me wrong, the grey is beautiful and perfect in my bedroom, but that aged finish was pretty gorgeous amIright?
Two coats of Varathane Triple-thick
New-to-me dresser anyways.
I did have to make one small audible during the refinishing process – the sides of this maple dresser weren’t maple. In fact, they were ¼” crap-board, so I wasn’t able to strip them down to stain them the same as the rest of the grey dresser.
Instead, I used some leftover wall paint and painted the side panels, topping it with a coat of triple-thick for durability.
Still looks okay right?
Hey, it’s different and perhaps even trend-setting?
I had these clean and simple handles from Liberty Hardware (leftover from another project) which completed the new-to-me dresser makeover and gave it a more up-to-date look.
Would you have seen the beauty in this just looking at the before shot?
Forty dollars folks (and a bit of work) – SO worth it!
Pin it for later:
I’ve got a great desk coming up next week, an awesome “Ultimate Saw station” for my workshop and a simple DIY sliding puzzle all in the next few days, so keep coming back for more!
Have a great one!