Dresser Makeover

Yesterday I finally got around to painting an old dresser I....found on the side of the road 9 months ago. I'm not sure which aspect I should be more ashamed of: The fact that I'm posting back to back trash projects, or the fact that this dresser sat in my house in this condition for 9 months.

I've decided not to worry about either. Can't win them all, right? 

I wanted to retain the true "cast-off trash" aura of the piece, so I decided to redo it only using items I had leftover from other projects. I like to do projects this way every few months to use up leftover crafty stuff.

 I succeeded, so this makes this total project cost: ZERO dollars. 

I'm pretty excited about that.

Here's the big reveal:

 What do you think?

There were a few problems we had to overcome. The right side of the dresser looks liked like this:

While the left side of the dresser looked like this:

At first, this seemed like a deal breaker. But once I looked a little closer, I realized I could just take the ride side molding off.

Easy peasy.

Then I introduced our dirty little dresser to Mr. Clean.

I filled in the gouges and nail holes with a little bit of Elmer's Wood Filler.

Someday I'll invest in a putty knife.

Once the filler dried (it took about 15 minutes), I ran the mouse sander all over it to prep for painting.

 It took about three coats of white paint to cover it all. I ran out of paint towards the end...but I had enough ivory spray paint left over from another project to finish it. "Good enough" is becoming an increasingly popular motto around here.

A few months ago I bought some pink vinyl shelf liner from Micheal's. It was on super sale, and I wanted to use it to cut stencils with the Cricut. I decided to use it in this dresser instead.

I roughed up the edges a bit for some distressed effect...something that baffles my husband, Cory, every time I do it. I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with how the distressing looks now, but it definitely helps the cute details on this dresser stand out. Right?

Here's a look at the side molding trouble spot:

I use this dresser to organize my crafty stuff. Pretty paper, unused picture frames, at least nine different types of adhesive, etc. I love the versatility of dressers! It's right next to the desk/closet where I keep my desk and sewing machine for easy access during projects.

That's how I filled my spare time on a busy Saturday! It feels so good to get that long awaited project DONE. You should tackle that project you've been putting off. I know you have one.

Lindy

Take a Seat

Things have been crazy around here lately, but I finally have made some crafty progress around here. Let me show you the best college graduation present I could ever ask for.

A few months ago I found this sweet chair (Click here to read the full story):

Last week my my parents were in town to visit, and I enlisted their help in a little re-upholstery project. They are the ones who bestowed this DIY, crafty attitude on us, so the least they can do is help us out every once in a while, right Mom and Dad? :)

 I sanded and stained my little heart out on Wednesday night, so we'd be ready to put on the new fabric Thursday.

Look at them go! The skills our parents possess never fail to amaze me. We grew up refinishing furniture together, so it was a nice little jaunt down memory lane to have us all working together again.

It basically turned into the lord of all crafting sessions, when Tanya and Jesse stopped by and couldn't resist the fun.

How many Hansen's does it take to reupholster a chair?

As  many as we can get.

We worked hard, and whipped it up in no time! Check it out:

I stained the wood with Miniwax Dark Mahagony, left over from a previous project. I finished it with Miniwax Finishing Wax.

I wanted the hand-rubbed, vintage effect of the Finishing wax for this chair, rather than the ultra glossy finish of varnish.

We used a painter's drop cloth for the chair seat cover. We purchased a 9 ft. cloth at Lowes, and it only cost about $12.00!

For more drop cloth ideas, you really need to check out Miss Mustard Seed. She is basically the queen of all things drop cloth, and has an awesome drop cloth slipcover tutorial.

Sometimes I thought I was going to lose my mind (I forgot how much work it is to refinish wood! I thought the sanding would never end!), but once the reinforcements arrived, things moved right along.

Seeing as how this project was pretty much completely inspired by the amazing Miss Mustard Seed herself, I'm linking up to her Furniture Feature Friday Party! You guys need to check it out!

Lindy