From Outdated Little Dresser to Fabulous Apothecary Cabinet

5 Materials
$30
3 Days
Medium

I love apothecary cabinets...well actually I love little drawers...LOVE! So when the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store wanted to gift me a piece of furniture to update...I was on board.

This project was a bit step-heavy and you can see the entire process in my highlights over on Instagram @somethingpaintedwhite

The first piece I saw when I walked into the store was this darling little 3 drawer dresser! Quite outdated and a wonky drawer or two but it was just the right size for my vision.

As soon as I got it home I went to work cleaning up this little chest with my Amy Howard Home Clean Slate and then I started sanding the top of it because it had some deep gouges and scratches and I wanted to smooth them out as much as possible. I knew I would be chalk painting it so sanding wasn't necessary for that.

I had these thin pieces of wood, I'm not sure what kind they are but they used to be little dividers in the drawers of an old roll-top desk that I have (that no longer has dividers in the drawers).


I cut them into squares and rectangles (the top drawer is slightly different in size from the other two) and then I glued and clamped them onto the drawer fronts.

I let the glue set for just a bit while I put 2 coats of Amy Howard at Home One Step Paint in the color Java on the body of the dresser because I wanted to make sure to cover up the original orangy color. Amy Howard at Home is my very favorite chalk paint. One of the things I love about it is that it DOES NOT NEED to be waxed!

After the Java dried I applied a coat of AHAH Cracked Gesso (for a chippy finish) ..followed by Toscana Milk Paint in Strausburg White.

This is a process but I know what I wanted this to look like so I just kept going.

After getting the paint to the chippy that I liked it's time to add the hardware. I love the vintage-looking brass catalog pulls and they're quite inexpensive on Amazon.

I laid them on the fake drawer fronts and put marks where the screws would go and then drilled little pilot holes.

Next, I attached them to the drawer fronts and then cut little labels out of an old newspaper that I found at an antique store. I love all the little labels!

I wonder what's in the Piggly Wiggly! LOL!!!

Be real careful when you open that drawer! LOL!!!!icon

This cute little apothecary cabinet turned out better than I imagined.


I love turning outdated furniture into fabulous new pieces with a paint and a little TLC!

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  • Michelle Blanco Michelle Blanco on Jul 04, 2021

    Absolutely LOVE it!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!

  • Alice Alice on Jun 28, 2023

    I love your finished piece, but what did you do to take the bottom from the original curved front to such a solid base? I think I would like it even more if the bottom front were not so solid, maybe with some cut away so it has little legs and space underneath. Hope that makes sense.

  • Jacke Jacke on Jun 29, 2023

    I love the idea for the printed part of the labels! I have an old sewing machine cabinet with 6 little drawers that is waiting for me to do something with, maybe a coffee table and put metal wheels underneath???

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  • Teresa Cuoghi Edens Teresa Cuoghi Edens on Aug 14, 2022

    This makeover certainly was inspired!

    When I was into refinishing furniture , we didn't have all those great new paints. We actually had to use hide glue when we wanted the "crackle" finish! I was stripping furniture with chemicals when I was 12! It's a wonder I have braincells left!

  • Teresa Cuoghi Edens Teresa Cuoghi Edens on Aug 14, 2022

    By the way, Piggly wiggly was the brainchild of Clarence Saunders of Memphis and it was the forerunner of the modern grocery store where the customers did their own shopping! Yes, I do live in New Mexico now. :)

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