Dresser Complete!

A couple months back I bought a dresser for $6 from a local classifieds group on Facebook. It was not much to look at, and even worse once I saw it in person but I could see its potential. I didn't take a before picture of it all put together but it was a nice drab brown with cute little pictures painted on the drawers to help the kids know what clothes belong where.

This drawer was clearly for underwear

The first thing I did was remove all the paint from the drawers and dresser. My sister suggested I get a paint removal spray to help reduce the amount of sanding I would have to do. I used Mostenbockers Latex-Based Paint Remover from Home Depot. I would spray a layer over the paint then use a sponge and water and scrub the paint off. The first drawer I tried it on I was too timid with the spray and didn't get off quite as much as I hoped. The second drawer I applied it much more liberally and it worked amazingly.

Apparently the drawers are actually black

After the paint remover I started to sand. I borrowed an electric sander from my dad which saved me a ton of time.

Decided not to sand the others quite as much as this one

All the drawers sanded

I'm really not quite sure what the dresser is made of. After sanding it seemed like there was a layer of laminate or something-and underneath was the white. It was an ugly sight.                               

                                       

I put on a layer of primer at this point so I could look for any places that needed to be re-sanded or fixed up.

Spray primer was my best friend

                                           

Here is where my addiction to wood filler begins. I used Minwax Stainable Wood Filler and I used a lot of it. Once the wood filler had dried I would sand it down and repeat the process until everything looked and felt smooth.

The yellow spots are the wood filler

As you may have noticed my dresser did not have a base, which made it feel flimsy. My goal was to use this in our bedroom as a tv stand so I had to strengthen it. I bought a small sheet of wood at Lowes and trekked down to South Jordan to have my dad cut it for me. I also ordered some furniture feet on ebay. I used wood glue and nails to attach the base to the dresser. Then I attached the feet to the base.

Used some 1 inch wood strips to help measure and place the feet on the base

There was a large gap between the base and where the bottom drawer would end so I again had my dad cut me some wood and I attached it along the front to cover the gap. I used more than half of my wood filler for the base and front piece to get a smooth look between the old structure and the new pieces.

Using a clamp to hold the front piece in place while the wood glue dried

The last problem I needed to address is the fact that the dresser had only come with 4 drawers... but had spots built for 5. I decided I wanted the top section that would have held a drawer to become a shelf. That way we could put our Roku and other items that connect to the tv on the shelf below.

Built the shelf support 

Ooops! Too short-I see a job for wood filler! 

Using household materials to hold down the shelf  while the glue dried 

After I put in a test drawer I realized there was about a half inch gap between the top drawer and the shelf and it was driving me crazy how bad it looked. So I cut a piece of wood to go in front of the shelf and was wide enough to cover the gap.

Because of my additions the drawers kept getting stuck. I had to sand and fit each of the drawers to fit in a specific place for them to go in correctly. Even now after painting there is one drawer that does not move in and out easily that I will need to go back and adjust.

All assembled

After much discussion and test painting I decided on a dark red violent which is my absolute favorite color. I did the first coat and afterward realized I should have used a different roller. I just used what we had sitting around the house and left a little bit of a texture which I didn't like. So I did a quick sanding to eliminate the texture, bought a foam roller, and tried again. I ended up doing 3 coats in total, because it's hard to get red to cover with just two coats.

After the first coat

Once I completed the painting I moved on to the inside of the drawers. They were kinda gross with stains and writing in them. Instead of painting them I decided to use drawer liner which would be easy to clean.  I went with a tan around the edges and a white and tan design for the bottom. It took forever to figure out how to do the first drawer.     

Before

After

I used the original drawer hardware and sprayed it with the leftover hammered bronze spray paint I had used for some outdoor light fixtures. 

It is not perfect but I am in love with how it looks and that I did it all myself. When I started the project Kyle said it was fine for me to do but that he would not be helping with it. He stuck true to his word except he did help me drill the holes to attach the feet to the base. The funny thing is we can't actually use it for our tv because we don't have a stand for it so for now it will just sit there and look pretty.