DIY Faux Decorative Dresser Drawers

by Tandy Johnson Bobo

I love all the images on Pinterest and here on Hometalk of dresser drawers that have been upcycled and decorated. I wanted to use one as a gift box to put a present in for my mother-in-law so that she would have the gift and the decorative drawer as well. My problem was that I didn't have access to any drawers. I had to come up with a way to make my own. While I was as it, I wanted to try a few different DIY techniques from homemade crackle paint to a faux DIY wood decal (blue drawer). It turns out it was all very simple and I am thinking now of making smaller drawers as teacher gifts to put plants in for my kids to take to school as well as some more in colors that I like. The ones I made below are tailored to the individual tastes of the persons that I am planning on giving these to.
I have to apologize, I usually try to post all the steps, but this project was very picture heavy. I'll leave a link down at the bottom if you are interested in the detailed steps I took.

Faux Dresser Drawers

First step is to find and cut your wood. I had some old particle board shelving laying around that I cut up in the sizes. Most wood will work, just make sure it is on the thinner side. Mine in 1/2 inch thick. I cut mine with a table saw, but any cutting tool will work, or you can have the home improvement store cut the pieces for you.

diy faux decorative dresser drawers, decoupage, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling

Before assembling, I spray painted each of the pieces in the base color. After it dried I used Hodge Podge and affixed the "draw liner" with scrapbook paper.

Spray paint in base color

Apply draw liner with Modge Podge

Now is the time to assemble your pieces. I used a nail gun, but you could use a hammer and small nails. After assembly fill all your holes, sand then on to the fun part. Decorating.

For the blue drawer I used homemade chalk paint and made a simple faux wood decal. Now that I am looking at it in pictures, I may go back over it with a dark wax to help it stand out more.

The yellow drawer is a simple graphics transfer and a lot of distressing.

The white and green drawer is a homemade crackle paint finish.

The finishing touch was to add the knob pulls that I purchased from Hobby Lobby. That is actually where most of the cost went into - the most expensive being $6.99.

Decorative Faux drawers

I went into greater detail on my website on how I painted and made the decals if your curious. Thanks for taking the time to read. I look forward to reading your comments and input.

Tandy @The Gift of Thrifting

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6 of 12 comments

Wendy Willey on May 17, 2015
They are lovely! BUT, what do you use them for???

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- Tandy Johnson Bobo on May 17, 2015
  @Wendy Willey Hehe - they're good for taking up space... Or use them stacked as decor, use one as a planter, or they can be used for any storage like makeup, perfume etc. Instead of using a gift bag for my mother-in-law I surrounded her present in tissue paper then put it in the box. I gave her the gift, but the box was was also part of the present. If anything you can let your cat at it. ;-) Thanks for your reply.
  
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- Cynthia H on May 18, 2015
  @Tandy Johnson Bobo I think they would look lovely hanging on the wall like a shelf, too.
  
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- Tandy Johnson Bobo on May 18, 2015
  @Cynthia H - Good idea. They could be left as is and hung vertical or I would even make them 1/2 as deep so they didn't stick off the wall too far then hang them with the knob facing out.
  
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Deezie on May 18, 2015
Wow, your drawers came out amazing. I love them all!!! your Mother in Law is going to love them

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- Tandy Johnson Bobo on May 18, 2015
  @Deezie Thank you so much :-)
  
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