How to Restore the Look of an Old Dresser-RepurposeLife

Over the summer my daughter, Lauryn, asked me to do a makeover of her bedroom. Normally, I keep my summers free of more involved projects. However, my kids know my love and passion for building projects and creating new spaces, so she had me at makeover. 🙂 Today I thought I would pop-in and share her dresser makeover. As evidenced by other blog posts I have written, I love to restore furniture. Click here to see another piece I did a few months back. I’m still doing some finishing decor touches in her room, but I promise to share it with you all soon.

In the meantime, here’s a look at a before picture…

To say that this girl is a bit of a “messy,” is an understatement! My lanta!! What a disaster!

I have been wracking my brain, trying to remember how we acquired this dresser in the first place. I wish I could say it was past down from my great-great-grandmother, but that would be lying. I think it was just a garage sale find. Wah-Wah. After we bought it from “whoever,” we painted it bubblegum pink and white and added these cute little knobs from Hobby Lobby. In her previously gray room, this color scheme fit well….

However, with all white walls, and accent colors of black, green and pink, we definitely needed to change the look of the dresser. I envisioned something a little more modern and not so cutesy. Not to mention, with a 14th birthday right around the corner, Lauryn wanted something a little more grown-up. 🙂

So let the painting begin…BUT FIRST! I like to start off by cleaning my project pieces with TSP. I know! We want to just jump in and start painting, but starting with a clean surface can make all the difference in the end result of a project. This stuff is great and really requires little to no elbow grease on your part. It’s the bomb!!

Now that all the knobs have been removed, the holes have been filled and sanded smooth with wood filler, and we’ve thoroughly cleaned the dresser with TSP….NOW we are ready for paint!! The fun part!!!

If you’re an avid reader of RepurposeLife Blog, you know my love for Junk Gypsy Chalk Paint. So you can also imagine how elated I was to find out that Junk Gypsy has come out with a new chalk paint line. Bungalow 47 is made specifically for furniture. And their colors…Gorgeous!! They are much more muted than the original Junk Gypsy line. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the original line, but to have double the color choice now…Yes please. 🙂

I chose Bungalow 47 Succulent Garden for Lauryn’s dresser…

Just as a side note, chalk paint goes a LONG way. I usually water down my first coats and then paint my last coat with solid, un-watered down chalk paint.

After 1 watered down coat and 1 solid coat of chalk paint, the dresser was ready for polyurethane…

Three coats of poly later, let’s add the hardware!! I found these adorable knobs at Hobby Lobby. I love their modern and simple look.

We could have gone out and bought a brand new dresser, but what a waste that would have been. I am so happy with how this turned out. It fits in this room makeover so well! It truly is perfect!

Painting furniture is one of my favorite things. I love to see the transformation and the beauty restored in an old furniture piece. If they could talk, oh the stories they could tell. 🙂