Old Laminate Dresser Gets Redressed

DP
by DP
5 Materials
$75
7 Days
Medium
I purchased this old dresser, it was in bad shape, the top was pealing terrible and the finish looked black
This is the dresser with drawers out and I started pealing the laminate off, it actually came off easy because of a large water damaged area, I was able to get it off with a putty knife, took me almost an hour though to get all the bits off. There were a couple small holes in the top, I think they used scrap wood here under the laminate but I thought it looked pretty and unique. The dark areas had a green tinge to them
These are the drawers, they are marked up and very dark, sorry for the dark picture, they do have key holes in them but it didn't have a key with it. I used citristrip on this and covered with plastic. This finish got gooey though and never dried, I was afraid to leave it on for too long that it would lift the laminate and I wasn't sure what the wood underneath was like. This dresser had a dark stain with a lot of red in it, maybe mahogany. That red was terrible though, very hard to get rid of and I ended up with a slight tinge of red in the final process of sealing it.
I sanded a lot on this dresser trying to get the stain off as much as possible
This little kitty I traced onto the dresser then painted with acrylic paints covered one of the small holes in the top (I did use wood putty in the hole but it didn't match the wood) This kitten looks like my little almost grown kitten.
This kitty covered another defect in the top of the dresser. We have cats so it fits with our house and this one looks like my big fluffy cat.
I printed some small black and white roses (the color isn't right in this picture) (I ended up printing twice because I had the size wrong the first time) I used a ruler in the Microsoft Digital Image Suite I have on my computer to try it make it about the right size. I then mod podged them onto the drawer handles and sealed with water based poly
This is my completed dresser, I did use a darker stain on the areas in between the drawers but the drawers and the top I only used the clear water based poly. It was missing casters so we purchased new ones to replace and now it is so easy to move around. I am pleased with how it turned out.
Suggested materials:
  • RUST-OLEUM Varathane Gallon Gloss Waterborne Diamond Floor Finish
  • Sand paper
  • Sander
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DP
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 3 comments
  • William William on Aug 19, 2017

    They always used secondary woods on veneer furniture. Green tinge on the top....probably Poplar. Love what you did. The kitties, roses on the pulls, grain on the drawer fronts....all perfect.

    • DP DP on Aug 19, 2017
      Thank you, this was my first time removing laminate
  • Myra Taylor Myra Taylor on Aug 23, 2017

    i love the way it looks!

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