Dresser Makeover Using Fabric And Mod Podge

Melody
by Melody

Not long after we moved into our new home, I found this empire dresser for sale at a garage sale in our neighborhood. This piece was in need of a lot of TLC. There was a laundry list of things wrong with this dresser; there was no back, the veneer was peeling or missing, it was missing part of the front leg and t was gouged and scratched. I had to build a leg for the front of this piece, which was a first for me, but I think it turned out great!

I started working on removing the veneer from the two drawers where the damage was the worst, but nothing I did got rid of this stubborn stuff. After sanding for a very long time, I was able to remove the veneer from one drawer, but decided it was best to find another solution or this was going to take me weeks (there are 6 drawers).

This is a few of the many things that were wrong with the dresser. I'm still pretty excited about my new front leg I made from glueing 2 scrap pieces of lumber together! I was able to cut the leg down using a miter saw, then sanded it into the shape I needed.

I decided to try something new and cover the drawers with fabric. I adhered the fabric to the drawers using Mod Podge. It was easy and I love how it looks in my new office!

For the top, I used a new to me paint called Blackberry House Paint in Iron Skillet. I added new drawer hardware from Hobby Lobby and it was done.

I painted the rest of the piece in Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan in mix of Old White and Pure White.

Here's my new leg!

I love the new drawer hardware from Hobby Lobby!!

Melody
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • S S on May 19, 2017

    How are the edges of the fabric holding up to use? And pealing?

  • Du Du on Dec 27, 2017

    You did not mention any sort of top coat on the fabric. Did you use anything? Also, did you just wrap the edge to the inside of the drawer front?

  • Tygress72 Tygress72 on Sep 20, 2021

    So now that it's been 5 yrs, how's the fabric holding up? Kudos on reconstructing that leg!! 😍

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  • Cud15744056 Cud15744056 on Jul 01, 2017

    You picked perfect material to go with the white paint. Great job. Inspiring! Thanks

  • 1CraftyMom! 1CraftyMom! on Oct 28, 2018

    Love it! I use an old wooden dresser for my TV stand in the living room. I painted it black years ago. I can't wait to try this on it to bring it up to date! I think I'll also remove the top drawers for the CD player, etc..

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