Making an Old Dresser Set New Again

Misty Gaines-Johnson
by Misty Gaines-Johnson
3 Materials
4 Days
Advanced
I love getting really cheap or free furniture to makeover. I have become the go to person when friends or family want to get rid of furniture, that is how I obtained this set. I really liked it because it was not overly heavy but was still solid wood. It was in a teenagers bedroom so there was fingernail polish and drawing from a marker all over it. I had to sand completely down with 120grit then 220 grit sand paper. I also replaced the handles, I had silver ones so I spray painted them with a rubbed bronze and then steel wooled them to make them more rustic to go with the pieces. I thought the set was boring and everyone paints furniture now days (even me) and my stain shading pieces have become increasingly popular so I thought I might as well stain shade these. Stain shading is a process of painting a design on wood using only stain. I use a combination of brushes and just my fingers to create my designs. I do not use stencils. There are some really good tutorials out there for stain shading...just google or go to Pinterest and search stain shading, there are even a few here on Hometalk. There are some amazing pieces out there! For these pieces I chose a sunflower and a sunflower/hummingbird combination. I used miniwax ebony stain and sealed with glossy wipe on poly to seal. Remember to let your stain dry completly...at least 24 hour before sealing. I would also like to add that the drawers did not want to slide very smoothly and that is a big deal for dressers so I took a bar of soap and rubbed it on the drawer guides, it really helps them pull out smoother.
Stain and poly I used and the spray paint for the handles
All sanded
Sanded and ready to go
Sanded and ready to go
Final finish!
Suggested materials:
  • Stain, spray paint, poly wipe-glossy   (Family member)
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  • Martha Martha on Dec 21, 2017

    Where did you get the sunflower and humming bird decal

  • Norma Norma on Sep 07, 2020

    Great idea. I assume you stained dark first? If not how did you cover art?

  • How is this done? The process? I love what you did, it's gorgeous!

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