Antique Empire
A sweet friend offered this empire style dresser to me as she was replacing it with something that better fit her space and her needs. I love the subtle curves and offset drawers on an empire. There were a few chunks missing out of the drawers, but other than that it was in pretty good shape. The tiger oak was dark and making this piece look heavy and outdated. I know a lot of people really like tiger oak, but, to me, an entire piece in it is distracting because the pattern is so pronounced. After sanding the drawers down and seeing how beautiful the pattern in the grain was I decided I wanted the focus to be on the drawer fronts.
After
Before
There were just wooden knobs on this piece so I replaced them with some updated hardware.
If the drawers look a little rough or have stains I sand them out and line them. I love opening up a drawer and finding such a sweet surprise!
I sanded the drawers down and gave them one coat of Java Gel from General Finishes and 2 coats of General Finishes Top Coat in flat. Beautiful! You can find more pics on my blog post (link below).
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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3 of 5 comments
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Beautiful!
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That is absolutely fantastic! great color choise! And I love how you kept the orginal wood and the drawers:)
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