Beat-up Dresser to Stylish Changing Table

9 Materials
$15
10 Hours
Medium

My friend had an old, beat-up dresser that she was getting ready to rummage or throw out. I said I'd take it and make it new again. I've seen fantastic dresser transformations but my favorites are the ones where the dresser becomes a bench with storage space. So I knew exactly what I was going to do with the old piece of furniture.

This is how the dresser looked when I brought it home.

The first step was to cut off what I didn't need. The legs went first - I needed to shorten it, to make it an appropriate sitting height. Then I removed two of the top row drawers and cut off the top using a jigsaw.

I cut some wainscoting material to fit the open gaps where the drawers used to be and nailed that into place.

After a thorough sanding, I painted everything with some leftover gray Behr paint.

I don't have any photos of the seat cushion in process, but I used 1 inch foam cushion, soft white fabric, and fabric glue to make the cover. I added some sleek silver handles to finish off the piece.

Before and after. The dresser was free from a friend, and the paint and foam cushion were leftover from previous projects. So I really only had to spend money on the handles and white fabric. Overall, it was a very cheap project for me and I think it turned out great!

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  3 questions
  • Sally-Charles Evans Sally-Charles Evans on Nov 05, 2018

    It is adorable, but I think it is very short. It looks to be 24" (ish) tall. ????

  • MikkiGirl MikkiGirl on Nov 05, 2018

    The title of this post leads the reader to believe that you turned an old dresser into a changing table. At the beginning you said that turning a dresser into a bench is your favorite project and then went on to say you cut it down to sitting height. Which is it, changing table or bench?

    Regardless of which it is, it’s very nice!!

  • Karen Karen on Nov 06, 2018

    what did you put as support for the seat

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  • Carolyn from NH Carolyn from NH on Nov 05, 2018

    Beautiful BENCH, love the color you used. Talk about storage wow, looks like plenty. Nice transformation 😊.

    Carolyn from N.N.

  • Sandy Sandy on Dec 03, 2018

    Great idea! Love the way it turned out

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