Antique Dresser Upcycle
by
Keri
I guess I've been pretty greedy lately with my projects. I only share them on my business Facebook page because hey, I have a business now and prefer someone buy my work instead of copy it. ;-) This project needed to be shared though.
My mom kept this dresser that belonged to my great grandmother because no one in the family wanted it and she couldn't bare the thought of my grandmother throwing it curbside. So when I started flipping furniture and other things she offered it to me. It was pretty banged up but the biggest issue were the broken drawer tracks and the fact that it was only a 3 drawer dresser (2 big ones and 1 small). Well 3 drawers just isn't very functional in todays world where we require storage, storage, and more storage and prefer to pack as much stuff as we can into one piece. So I decided to do something more functional and unique with piece.
Forgive me for not having a before pic of the entire dresser. I am forever forgetting to take pics before hand. after removing and painting the drawer fronts we added hooks to make coat/hat racks.
Now for the real transformation! We screwed plywood on the bottom of the open dresser (see first pic) and added vertical 1x2 supports and screwed the top plywood piece under the top drawer. Then we sanded and were ready for paint!
I use Shabby Paint Brand chalk paint for all of my projects. Here I used Snow White chalk paint for the outside. For the inside I went with Licorice. I kept it dark in order to blend any imperfections. Usually I like to do interiors lighter to really allow the items inside to pop but not this time. Then I used Shabby paints no wax sealer called sheer vax. This stuff is tough and never needs reapplication like wax plus its all non toxic and voc free and made in the USA! Ok, next I dry brushed Shabby Black revax which is tinted vax so it gives color and seals at the same time. We added new knobs a French Inn stencil on top an under the counter steel stem ware holder and bottle opener. All Done and I wish I didn't have to sell it!
My mom kept this dresser that belonged to my great grandmother because no one in the family wanted it and she couldn't bare the thought of my grandmother throwing it curbside. So when I started flipping furniture and other things she offered it to me. It was pretty banged up but the biggest issue were the broken drawer tracks and the fact that it was only a 3 drawer dresser (2 big ones and 1 small). Well 3 drawers just isn't very functional in todays world where we require storage, storage, and more storage and prefer to pack as much stuff as we can into one piece. So I decided to do something more functional and unique with piece.
Forgive me for not having a before pic of the entire dresser. I am forever forgetting to take pics before hand. after removing and painting the drawer fronts we added hooks to make coat/hat racks.
Now for the real transformation! We screwed plywood on the bottom of the open dresser (see first pic) and added vertical 1x2 supports and screwed the top plywood piece under the top drawer. Then we sanded and were ready for paint!
I use Shabby Paint Brand chalk paint for all of my projects. Here I used Snow White chalk paint for the outside. For the inside I went with Licorice. I kept it dark in order to blend any imperfections. Usually I like to do interiors lighter to really allow the items inside to pop but not this time. Then I used Shabby paints no wax sealer called sheer vax. This stuff is tough and never needs reapplication like wax plus its all non toxic and voc free and made in the USA! Ok, next I dry brushed Shabby Black revax which is tinted vax so it gives color and seals at the same time. We added new knobs a French Inn stencil on top an under the counter steel stem ware holder and bottle opener. All Done and I wish I didn't have to sell it!
Dresser with added plywood bottom shelf.
Drawer fronts were in decent shape but the rest were very banged up.
Drawer front coat racks. Top was painted in Licorice and copper kettle. Bottom one was painted in Cranberry Bliss and wet distressed. Both sealed with non toxic sheer varnish.
completed dry bar
French Inn stencil on top
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2 of 5 comments
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This is gorgeous!
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We have one almost identical. My husband used drawers to make doors.
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