A Mid-Century Modern Dresser Makeover
You’d laugh if you saw my 9-year-old’s dresser.
They say that laughter is the best medicine, so if you’re feeling in need of a good laugh, here’s your daily dose of chuckles.
I didn’t clean up for you :). That disorganization is real, y’all!
I know….poor thing. The handles were falling off of this cheap $20 thrifted particle board dresser. It simply served a purposed, but it’s overstayed its welcome.
I’d been meaning to refinish a dresser for him.
It’s not like I don’t have a plethera of options (have you seen the stuff I find at my favorite thrift store???)
Like this one:
BEFORE
I had found this little guy about a year ago, and for $20, I couldn’t pass that up. Even if it was missing a knob.
….Only, I let it sit in my garage. While my baby’s dresser was falling apart. (Sorry, sweetie!).
Well, this weekend, I busted out my sanding skillz and decided to transform this baby into something that my 9-year old could be proud of.
When I asked him if he likes it when I was done, he asked, “Why wouldn’t I??”
Here’s what it looks like now!
AFTER!
To Stain or Not to Stain?
That was the question.
As much as I sometimes hate sanding, I actually really love that moment when stain hits fresh wood. It’s magical the way it sucks up the color like a magician. Paint just doesn’t have that same effect.
I decided to sand the dresser down to its bare wood, even the drawers.
TIP: When sanding wood with an orbital sander, start with tougher grit sandpaper and work your way down to a fine sandpaper.
There’s nothing like fresh, sanded wood, right?!
The thing I hate about sanding is getting into the corners. I just got one of these RYOBI Job Plus tools, which comes with a sander head for tough corners that my orbital sander can’t reach.
Sometimes I struggle with stains and figuring out what shade I really want.
But I stumbled on these two stains. They look awesome when paired together! (See how they look together on raw birch wood!)
I wanted something that looked weathered, but the shade of the bare wood affected how the stain looked. The Early American shade turned out more reddish than I expected. I probably did two coats.
When I layered the Weathered Gray on top of the Early American, I wiped it off quickly.
Then, I dipped my rag in the Early American again and wiped another coat over the Weathered Gray.
The result was that the gray got ingrained into the grain which gave it a bit more texture. I love the result!!
I painted the drawers white, but I had a crap of a time getting the white actually white because some of the old stain bled through where I tried to sand in between the grooves.
Finally, after just a couple coats, I just decided to apply a coat of wax over the paint and then try to paint again. Did it work? Meh– a little.
I finally decided that if I had a little bleed-through, oh well. My son wouldn’t notice. 😉
Not Enough Knobs!
Don’t you hate when you want to re-use knobs and pulls from an original dresser but you’re missing one?! I wish a magical Knob Fairy would just drop it in my mailbox.
This one had so many knobs it looks like the teats on the belly of a cat! HA!
I decided that I would use only four of the knobs on top since I couldn’t find #8 and just use wood filler in the bottom row of holes (then sand them smooth). It was the best solution I could come up with without having to buy new knobs.
The knobs on the bottom were left-over when we redid our kitchen 5 years ago.
The knobs were chipped gold so I used a Sharpie oil-based paint marker to have them match the silver pulls.
And my favorite crafting tool of all is Rub n’ Buff. I can’t say enough about how transformational it is! (See my post: 5 Ways to Use Rub n’ Buff).
I think it turned out really nice!
I love using Miss Mustard Seed’s hemp oil on freshly stained wood.
I wiped on two coats of oil.
The top has a weathered look, too.
I finished the painted drawers with Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Wax.
I actually prefer this over the Annie Sloan clear wax because this wax doesn’t smell yucky like Annie Sloan wax!
I don’t have my son’s room totally set up yet, so I’ll have to show you the dresser in its full glory once I get it together!
But I totally love how this turned out!
Maybe it’s a little grown up for my son, but he’s a big boy now. (He just started 4th grade today!)
And he doesn’t deserve a dresser that’s falling apart.
He deserves something that is handsome and functional.
The dresser was later put in my son’s blue accent wall bedroom!
So what do you guys think?! 🙂 Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
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I like the finished product. The white drawers make it look almost like a tuxedo! Very cool and sometimes stepping away from the conventional is nice. Good job girl!
You have truly inspired me to start my furniture flip business . I follow all of your tips and ideas on refinishing . Thank you for putting out great blogs and videos . I get so tired sometimes and want to quit but then I come back to your blog or videos and I say to my self if she can do this with kiddos , I can do this with just hubby and furry baby . Keep up the beautiful work .
Gorgeous! Nice job, and I applaud your choice to keep part of the wood natural. Thank for sharing!
I’ve found that 2 coats of spray Shellac usually does the job for staining bleed through. The brush on usually worsens it. It seems that the act of brushing it on exacerbates the problem. Try 2 coats of spray shellac directly over the paint that is showing the staining, wait for it to dry then paint dirctly over it. I haven’t had a case where this didn’t work. I think once I had to go through the process twice but it was well worth it, especially since the spray on dries so quickly. You did a beautiful job on this MCM dresser and the other taller one I saw. You truly do have a talent! You also speak to your readers as if we are in the room with you having a nice casual conversation. You never come across as condesending or rude, even to the people who reply rudely to you. My hats off to you!
Maybe I hadn’t used it properly but I found that spray shellac didn’t work well for me. I’ll have to try that again!! 🙂 And thanks so much for the awesome compliments!! I really love my readers and teaching them what I learn as I go, so I keep it as natural as possible. I hate “stuffy” and conservative situations! LOL 🙂 Thanks for commenting!!!
Sorry Serena, but I would have liked to have seen this re-stained after stripping the old stain. Natural wood furniture is hard to find and with a find like this I would have re-stored it to it’s natural beauty instead of ruining it by attempting to modernize it with paint.
I wouldn’t say it was ruined, especially considering that it’s in my son’s room and looks great next to his dark blue accent wall. But everyone like’s what they like, and you seem to appreciate the beauty of wood. For me, solid, dark wood sucks the lights out of rooms, so I tend to light to brighten then up, by using paint with stain. Thanks for commenting! 🙂
It looks gorgeous, I really need to get myself one of those RYOBI Job Plus tools and I love how you made a plan with the missing little handle.
Thanks, Michelle! I wasn’t sure how I would get around that missing handle, but it’s amazing what you pull off when you set your mind to it! 🙂 Glad you like it!
Serena this is not just nice, that is fantastic. Where do I begin? Love that you added the grey to the stain, it gives it so much depth. And that white makes a nice contrast with the stain. The idea of moving the bottom drawer to the top was also very smart and cute. Congrats on your little man starting fourth grade! Is he the youngest?
Hi, Mary! Thank you! Yeah, I absolutely love the gray stain mixed in! The wood of the dresser really helped to amplify the stain, too! 🙂 This was for my oldest son!
Not a big fan of stain, but I like the idea of the 3 alternating layers. Really like how you flipped the drawers and the 4 knobs are very trendy. I must say that with no husband, I have the exact dilemma you were picturing. I saw a piece of furniture I wanted but would have had to store it in the car..everything else is full:(
Hey, Karen! Glad you like it! The more I work with stain, the more I really like it, especially once I am down to the bare wood. It seems almost….WRONG….to paint bare wood. But if it’s already covered in stain or shellac–it’s fair game! LOL. And you’re right, you can’t store furniture in your car! LOL Do you have a lot of furniture projects in your garage already?
Wow Serena, great job, you made it look easy rehabbing your sons’ dresser. What a change from old $20 piece, would never know. His dresser looks fantastic and I like small drawers on top instead of bottom also. When I first saw it reversed thought was seeing things. Sure learned a lot about staining from reading all your comments.
Rarely see pieces out on curb here but maybe that’s cause somebody else’s hub would stop to pick it up unlike mine who refuses to let me have anything. Says I have too much crap as it is in shed.
He doesn’t have vision either.
Love and enjoy your blog bunches. Happy week.
JaneEllen, ha! Yep, there is something about the hubbies that just don’t like us bringing stuff home! They see JUNK. We see FABULOUS makeovers! 🙂 I guess the bright side is that without the hubby thwarting some of our efforts, our sheds and garages would be in even worse shape! 🙂 HAHAHA!
Thanks, and I appreciate you taking the time to comment!
Maybe it’s already been mentioned, but when you paint just about any piece of wood white, you need an oil based, fast drying primer. I use Zinsser – works like a charm! 😉
You did a great job. I love the after!! I also mix my stains to bring out more grain. I also use watered down paint for stain. It’s great to have so many color options!
Hey, JustMe! Wow, sorry for responding so late! 🙂 Love the idea about the Zinsser. I always forget to have oil based primer on hand for these issues! LOL. I’m going to pick some up the next time I hit the store! 🙂
And yes, watered down paint is AWESOME for staining!! Love that grain peeking through!