Banged up Dresser Re-do

Toni Hunton
by Toni Hunton
Okay,so it looked good on the buy sell page,not so good in person.
This one has been a nightmare,start to finish.
First,I had to PRY the handles out of the wood,and rip them out in pieces.
They had been painted over and over and over,with silver spray paint,I could kill whoever did it.
Here's what those offending drawers looked like before and after.


The worst part was,the old owner had let them get wet,so once I had them out,they were NOT going back in.


I ended up putting 2 off to the said that simply would not go back into place,and will use them elsewhere at a later date.


I salvaged one of them which I put in at the bottom.


The runners were also shot on this,so I had to go through Dave's scrap pile and make some new ones.
Here's just a glimpse of how much chaos the local Bora beetle had done.


This entire piece was full of holes and tunnels.
See what I mean about the damage? Lots of filling in on this one.


After the filler was dry,I hand sanded it all back so I would have a nice even surface to work on.
Once sanded,I gave her the standard white base,4 coats this one took,had to hide all that filler.
After I decided to make a double cubby out of it,I found some old 1/4 inch plywood we had hidden in the shed,measured from front to back and side to side from the front and the back to be sure they were even,and did this on both areas the shelves would go.


I then measured twice,went ahead and made my cuts,and made them 4 inches too short.


CRAP !!!


So when Dave got in from work,we went out and did it again,this time it was the right size.


Seems the old "measure twice cut once" theory for me is "measure three times,and wait for Dave"
Laid the plywood in place and then tapped in some brad nails.


I think there are 6 on each side and about 8 across the front.


Then painted them white also,top and bottom.
The reason I painted them,was because I tried to adhere some nice wallpaper on them,and once I did,I hated it,so stripped it off,sanded it down to get the excess glue off,and went with the paint.
Once the paint was dry all over,I got out some midnight blue,and did the outside,front strips where the shelves were and under the top.


I made a light blue and painted the drawer in this,then got out some redwood stain,did the inside of the drawer ,the inside of the cabinet underneath,the side walls where the shelves were and the shelves as well.


I used a foam brush to apply the stain in one direction, then wiped it off in the same direction with a lint free rag.
Before the stain.
After the stain is added.
I had a window screen left over from the yellow bookcase I did and there was just enough to cover the back of the cabinet since the original back was split down the middle and I had to throw it away.
I laid it down and held it in place using some push pins in the corners so it wouldn't move,I then snapped all the bamboo slats with my fingers at the place where it would end at the bottom,and cut off the excess fabric.
After I had it exactly where it needed to be,I went back to Dave's shop and got some thin pieces of wood he wasn't going to use.....I hope.....and after measuring the length of the cabinet,cut them so that I could use them to hold the screen in place and secured them with more brad nails.


I then took some sisal rope.....gawd I love this stuff.....I put it across the front to hide the join of where the plywood meets the cross pieces on the cabinet.


I held it in place on the inside edge, with hot glue,then once it was set,used some black tacks to add a more pleasing look.


I did the same across the front,and made sure to line the tacks up top and bottom.


I used a thicker rope above the smaller rope which goes from the back of each shelf then out along the front.


So back left to front,out and across the front,up,and in on the right inside edge.


Make sense ?????


As you know from the start,the handles were garbage,so I had some old ones from another project,only 2 of them mind you,so added them to the drawer,and must say,I think it sets it off quite well.
In all,even though it took a week,and it was a mess inside,I think it came out well.


The cubby ones are popular for me,and I am glad people are buying them.


Last one I did,sold in 3.5 hours from the time I listed it.


This one.....went in 32 minutes.


WOW!!!!! LOL !!!!!


Oh,and this is Dave.


Without him I could not have the gumption to do this on my own.


He is tolerant,loving,patient and caring and I am thankful to have him as my husband.


Doesn't hurt that he has all sorts of scraps for me to dig through either.


Thanks honey !!
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  • Paula P Paula P on Mar 09, 2017

    I think you did a great job. What a lot of work, though. Where do you sell your projects?

  • Shawn Hoffman Shawn Hoffman on Apr 11, 2020

    Very, very nice! I have two in my garage and can hardly wait to get started on them!

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