Dual Purpose Dresser

I found this dresser several months ago at Impact thrift store in Hatboro, PA.  The brass handles and its exceptional curve appeal (ha!) are what drew me to this beauty.  When I inspected the dresser, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found -- solid wood, in great condition, the insides of the drawers were clean and spacious and the price was oh-so-right! 



i scored this dresser on sale for $36.  it just doesn't get any better :)



This baby had to be mine all mine.  And speaking of baby, I thought of an idea which justified why the dresser was coming home with me.  I've been searching for a dresser for our office, a.k.a. future baby room, for a long time.  The criteria for the dresser is that it has to work well in our office and also serve double duty for our future plans for the space. 

So, this dresser will not only fulfill my immediate need for storage in the office, it will also serve as a changing table when the time comes. 

Here are some examples of DIY changing tables I found on the internet:  



via Kelly Rae Roberts



via BABY Lifestyles



via Swanky Baby



If you find a dresser for a mere $36 in perfect condition and it happens to satisfy your specific design taste as is, I'd consider you INCREDIBLY LUCKY!  And since I'm NOT one of those people, although scored for a great price, this dresser needed a lot of TLC. 

Here's what I did...

First step was to strip the current paint (several layers actually) off the dresser.  I used Klean-Strip Stripper (shown below).  This is an extremely toxic product so it's important to follow the directions carefully for proper use and disposal.

About five minutes after application, you'll notice the paint begining to curdle.  After waiting about 10 minutes, I used a metal putty knife to scrape the curdled paint from the dresser. 

pretty crazy stuff, huh?  this has to be one of the more toxic products i've used to date.  i performed this step in my garage with the door wide open for plenty of ventilation.

Next, I performed my first step of applying the stripper two more times.  Depending on how many coats of paint your piece of furniture has on it, you may need to apply the stripper more or less. 

this is what the top of my dresser looked like after applying and scraping one coat of the stripper.

this photo shows some of the progress I made while stripping the paint.

Then, once I removed most of the paint from the larger, flatter surfaces it was time to work on removing the paint from the hard to reach areas.  For hard-to-scrape areas, such as the intricate wood work on the dresser's leg shown below, I used an old toothbrush and the head of a pen to scrape the paint off. 

Next up, I sanded all surfaces with a rough sand paper.  Then, I sanded the dresser with a softer sand paper that left the dresser with a nice, smooth-to-the-touch feeling. 

sanded (left) versus unsanded (right)

Finally, I finished the dresser and made it custom to my specific design taste. I painted the outer surfaces (except for the top) with three coats of Minwax PolyShades - Mahogony, left over from my powder room makeover.  This product is great because it has Polyurethane in it, a protective top coat great for furniture, so it saves you a painting step at the end. 

As for the top of the dresser, I painted one coat of Zinsser's top coat, and two coats of high-gloss white.   My inspiration to paint the top white came from this beautiful dresser, which is also a DIY project.

via Young House Love

I wrapped this project up by painting a protective layer of  Polycrylic on the top of the dresser.  And the finale:

close-up of the brass handles

intricate wood work on the dresser's legs

how awesome is this top drawer with the dividers?  i love it.

this dresser is the perfect storage solution i needed

i chose a high-gloss white for the top because i love the modern, sleek look of it.

Poster Bed Find

This may sound weird to a non-DIYer...but this poster bed find made my year! 

I consider myself lucky for two reasons.  One, because yours truly actually stumbled across this.  And two, I found this ON MY LUNCH BREAK!!!  I know, I know...you're jealous :)~  I rarely leave the office on my lunch break so I consisder myself super special.

When I laid eyes on this bed I would have bet money that someone else had already bought it.  I thought to myself, "There's NO WAY that bad boy hasn't been purchased yet.  It's waaay to special!"  It was sort of off to the side too- almost as if someone had intentionally tried to keep it out of eye sight.  Well my friends, I scored this beauty for $54 buckaroos.  I know, I know...you hate me!




Here's the poster bed at Impact Thrift Store at the time it caught my eyes.  It's hard to tell from this picture but the bed was actually off to the side a ways- seperated from the other bedroom furniture.

At first, I debated painting the bed becase the wood was in such great condition and had so much shine.

 

Here's the bed  when we got it home.  I had to go back to the thrift store with Rob and pick it up several days after I purchased it because it wouldn't fit into my teeny car.



This is the bed after one coat of paint.  I'd like to apologize for the awful cellphone picture quality.  As I mentioned somewhere on my blog before, at the time I started alot of my DIY projects I didn't know I'd be blogging about them today- otherwise I'd have nicer pics to share :)

 To check out the poster bed, in its finished glory, click here and scroll down.

Rob and I sanded the poster bed with a medium coarse sandpaper until the surface was roughed up pretty well. Then, we used a finer sandpaper to smooth out the wood surfaces. Finally, I painted the poster bed with a black semi-gloss paint. I wanted the bed to really look nice and thought that by using a paint with some shine would do the trick.

When I bought this bed I was so excited I didn't realize that the bed frame was sold separately.  I snagged a frame at the same thrift store for $10.00.  All said and done, our guest poster bed only put us back $97 with materials.  Actually, that's way ahead in my book- my budget loves me!!! 

Not too shabby, right? I hope you like.

THIS DIY PROJECT WAS LINKED AT The DIY Showoff,  HERE