Chipped Veneer Dresser Becomes Two-Toned Beauty

4 Materials
$50
4 Hours
Easy

have another fun makeover to share with you today. In the last couple of months, I have had some great luck finding dressers and furniture pieces that need a little TLC and that were priced well enough for me to bring home to work on them. My latest find was this tall, six-drawer dresser.

Please excuse the poor lighting for the before photos. In the winter, I work in the basement a lot and the lighting isn’t great.

Like most pieces I rescue, this dresser had a few issues that made the price right and also made sure that no one else had taken it home. 🙂

There were a few areas on the dresser drawers where the veneer was either gone or peeling off. There are two ways that I remedy peeling and/or missing veneer. If it is really bad, I will remove it all with this  easy way to remove veneer trick. If it isn’t as bad or it is happening in smaller spots, I will use this technique for  how to fix peeling veneer

This dresser only had a few spots of missing veneer on a couple of the drawers so I used {aff}  MUD from Dixie Belle Paint. This stuff is amazing for projects like this. It is so easy to use and you can’t do it wrong. I use a small putty knife to apply a thin layer to the missing veneer areas. I am not super precise with it, but try to keep it in the area where the veneer is missing. I don’t want to go further than that because that just makes for more sanding in places that don’t need it when it is dry.

Once the MUD is dry, I sand the area down so it is flush with the rest of the drawer. I use a 120 grit sandpaper. You don’t want a harsh sandpaper because the MUD sands down very easily and you want a finished look when you are done sanding. You want the area you put the MUD on to be flush with the rest of the drawer so when you paint it, you can’t tell where you patched it.

Besides the drawers, the rest of the dresser was in great condition. I was only planning on painting the drawers to give it a two-toned look. The rest of the dresser was in great condition so I just cleaned it all (inside and out) with my  homemade Thieves cleaner and let it dry. When it was dry, I took an old rag and rubbed {aff}  Restor-A-Finish in “Dark Walnut” all over the wood. This step alone made this dresser come alive. If you have never used this product, I highly recommend it. It comes in different colors and we have used it on hardwood floors, cabinets and furniture. It is amazing how it makes older wood come alive and look new again. We will always have Restor-A-Finish on hand (in multiple colors).

Once the outer shell of the dresser was done, it was time to paint the drawers. I grabbed {aff}  one of my favorite paint brushes and {aff}  one of my favorite paint colors for furniture and got started. 

The drawers needed two coats of paint. Once they were dry, I added vintage glass knobs that we had on hand. The original knobs were fine, but they didn’t match the vibe I was going for. I will use them on a different project for sure.

When Matt and Landen carried the dresser up for its glamour shots, I couldn’t believe how good it looked. It sparkled once we got it out of the dark basement and into the porch for the photo shoot. It is so pretty! I was so excited that the original wheels were still on the dresser and that they all function great. Whenever a piece has the original hardware or casters, I feel like I have hit an extra jackpot. It is hard to find them with those things intact.

The Restor-A-Finish really made a difference in the wood on this dresser. It is beautiful. If the drawers weren’t missing veneer, I would have used it on the drawers too. I am always amazed what a little paint, some time and some elbow grease can do to a piece that was destined for the landfill. It is so satisfying saving these pieces and breathing life back into them so they can live on and be functional and pretty wherever they end up. Would you have rescued this tall, handsome fella? I am hoping after you saw the Two-Toned Painted Dresser Makeover, your answer is “YES”! 🙂


To see the full supply list and color of paint used, head to my blog post: https://mycreativedays.porch.com/two-toned-painted-dresser-makeover/

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Lindsay Eidahl
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  • Annette Annette on Feb 27, 2020

    does restore a finish product really take care of the problems caused by heat and leaves white marks on furniture?

  • Deborah Deborah on Mar 03, 2020

    I can not find your Thieves cleaner recipe? Is it just the essential oil?

  • Linda Linda on Feb 22, 2021

    What Kind Of Brush Did U Use? Tks In Advance

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