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.

Laundry Room Redo

Check it out!  We completely transformed our laundry room in one weekend -

and it cost less than $400.  I'm skipping all the way to the bank with all the money we saved. 

Here's a quick breakdown of what we did...

1. Added a new-er dryer that was given to us from Rob's Aunt Donna
2. Tore down the very old wire shelving and installed a new cabinet and drying rack
3. Painted the walls and doors 
4. Added new base boards
5. Pulled up the 20 year old linoleum and layed new tile flooring
6. Removed the old light fixture and replaced it with a new one
7. Replaced all the light sockets 

If you're wondering how we pulled this off for less than $400, here's a cost breakdown of the materials we used:

1. (2) 5 Gallon Buckets - $5.08
2. Outlet - $3.97
3. (2) Light Sockets - $7.94
4. IKEA Cabinet - $45.00
5. IKEA Cabinet Doors - $30.00
6. Drying Shelf - $12.99
7. Tile - $61.60
8. Tile Spacers - $5.16
9. Thin Set - $15.97
10. Grout - $18.00
11. New Dryer Hose - $30.00
12. Light Fixture - $19.97
13. Base Boards - $39.28
14. Corner Pieces for Baseboards - $3.75
15. Caulk - $2.14
16. Paint - $1.00 (Clearance)
17. Rug - $17.99

Drum roll please....

GRAND TOTAL:  $319.84

If you're like me and have always wanted a blissful place to do laundry but always thought it would cost too much money, you should know that it's totally possible without breaking the bank.



This makeover is linking up with the best of them at:

Revamp an IKEA Chair

Two years ago this Poang IKEA chair was on the curb outside of someones house, hours away from being trashed.  I pulled over and quickly shoved the chair into my teeny Toyota Celica and drove home. When I got the chair home, I was able to take a closer look at its condition. Aside from a missing screw and minor wear and tear, the chair was prestine. By bleaching the fabric cover and with a new screw I had a new comfy chair.

Here's how the chair looked in my home...

I was stoked about my curb side find and I've been very happy with the chair, but I recently got an itch to spruce it up a bit.  With several coats of wood stain left over from my powder room makeover, I was able to change the look of the chair to this... 

It's been awhile since Roxy has made her way into my pictures.  But on this day, she wasn't moving for anything.  Since I think she's so cute, I let her sit right in the middle of my picture. 

 

See how nice the chair took to the stain.

Here's some pictures of what I did...it was so easy!

This is what the wood looked like before I stained it.

Here's a super close-up of the wood while I was sanding.  In order for the wood to absorb the stain properly, it's important that you use a rough sandpaper to take off any protective coating from the wood. 



I took the chair apart to make painting the base easy breezy.

 

Here's the base of the chair as I began to paint the first coat of wood stain.  I painted a total of three coats, allowing each coat to dry overnight. 

Don't you think the dark wood looks so much better?

This tutorial is linking up with the best of them at:

Kitchen Makeover

Yikes!  It's hard to believe that this was our kitchen one year ago.  When we bought our town house this is exactly what it looked like- the horrible border, two layers of caked-on wallpaper (hard to see in pics), 21 year-old blinds, stale cabinets, and oh yeah, the gi-NORMOUS light fixture.  How can you miss that thing?

Our kitchen was the second project we tackled once we moved in.  The first room that we worked on was our living room. 



The knobs were actually pretty decent so we kept them





Just your standard maple cabinets...



And here's how the kitchen looks today!  This project was a BIG one for us...our biggest yet.  All said and done, I'd say we worked on this extreme makeover for about a month- maybe a little longer.  But hey, well worth it in my book. 



I LOVE, love, LoVe, lOvE how it turned out.  We get so much sunlight in here and the feeling is super airy and open. 



The two corner glass front cabinets and light fixture is new. 




I'm happy with the way the knobs look against the Valspar Swiss Coffee paint. 

 



New Blinds!!!  What a DIFFERENCE blinds make people.



We peeled and ripped wallpaper and argued and sweat and peeled wallpaper and almost gave up and ripped more wallpaper.  The wallpaper just kept appearing. 

We've mastered the art of sanding, smoothing, priming, painting and drying.  

Today, Rob has quite an extensive handyman list of accomplishments- but a year ago, installing a new dishwasher was a pretty impressive task (for a city boy) to do himself, to say the least.  Thank goodness for handy hubbies! Muah.