Fixing a Makeover Gone Wrong

Andrea Palmai
by Andrea Palmai
9 Materials
$50
3 Days
Advanced
When I look for furniture online for the purpose of flipping it for a profit one of the most important criteria is price! It needs to be cheap enough that if I invest money and time in refinishing i can still sell it for a nice profit. That also means I purchase furniture that is in really bad shape or already had a bad makeover.
This is the before shot
I purchased this dresser for $40 from Facebook marketplace. I knew I didn't want it blue and that it had wood underneath the paint. I was going to strip it and expose as much wood as possible.
I started by applying the stripper. I use citristrip because its low odor and can be used indoors.
Cover it with plastic foil
Once I apply the stripper I cover it with foil so it doesn't dry out and keeps working. I think if it as when you dye your hair at home and cover it with a plastic bag. It just works better you know :)
Time to scrape it off
After a couple of hours it was time to scrape off the stripper and hopefully the blue paint too. It was tough and didn't come off easily... i had to strip the top 3 times before the blue paint was off
To wipe off the stripper you need to use TPS. That will stop the chemical process.
Stripped 3 times
After the top was stripped 3 times I realized that there was no way I was going to strip and sand the whole dresser 3 times. It would require so much time and supplies that I could not sell for a profit. That's when I had to improvise. I still wanted to expose as much wood as possible so I started stripping the drawers and decided on a design where 4 drawers have exposed wood and the rest would feature black paint.
Once I stripped the drawers it was clear that some parts of the veneer was sanded too hard previously and could not be exposed as I had hoped.Again I had to improvise! I decided on a "tetris" design where I simply paint a block over the damaged parts.
Frogtape
I used frogtape to tape out my design. For the paint I used black latex paint and gold metallic paint as part of my design. The drawers and top was sanded with 120, 150,320 grit sandpaper after stripping it. Then stained with dark walnut minwax penetrating stain. At the end of it all it was covered with polyurethane coat for a durable permanent finish.
Finished product
Here is the finished dresser. It was a lot of work and I will think long and hard before I buy a dresser that was been painted top to bottom. But this makeover of a makeover was worth it! Looks much better and will make a statement piece in anyone's home. If you like this makeover and want to see more follow me on Instagram @andreapalmai
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 6 questions
  • Kim 'Kiewatt' Waknitz Kim 'Kiewatt' Waknitz on Jan 09, 2020

    You said you cover the stripper with foil, but it’s looks like cloth, would you clarify please? Btw it turned out beautifully, love natural warm look of wood.

  • Crystal Yearous Crystal Yearous on Jan 18, 2020

    Love the mid century modern look of your pieces. They fit into many different design aesthetics. Great job.

  • Tchapman92115 Tchapman92115 on Jan 15, 2023

    I’m just posting a tip, Rust-Oleum makes a product called Watco One Step Paint & Poly Remover that will take off paint in 15 minutes or less and to the wood. Walmart sells it. TSP after you strip the same as above. I restore antique furniture and I love the product; it cuts down on so much work and is less than most paint removers that don’t work nearly as well.

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2 of 48 comments
  • Nancy Nancy on Jan 08, 2023

    Beautiful!

  • Katen Katen on Jan 08, 2023

    Well you managed to turn souse’s ear into a silk purse. My personal rule of thumb when looking at any painted piece Is “paint is hiding something”. Not necessarily bad but typically cheap materials or poor workmanship or damage. I proceed with caution. You are more brave than me! Your ability to go with it is very impressive

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