When my husband and I were first married at the ages of 21 and 22, new furniture was not on our priority list. We received many free items from family and friends. These items were not very aesthetically pleasing, but it was furniture, and at that time having furniture that wasn’t pretty was better than no furniture at all. I began to get very creative with our existing furniture to try to make our house a home. I was no expert in refinishing furniture, but I thought it would be fun to share some of my earliest projects. You’ll learn that refinishing furniture is a very inexpensive way to make your home look beautiful and with a little elbow grease, you can do it too.
We received this old dresser from my mother-in-law. I was very unsure about accepting her gracious gift when she brought it over. It had stains all over the top and the enamel was melting off in places. It had that old 70s in appearance. Think brass knobs and dull brown shiny stain with black speckles throughout.
I decided I would give it a whirl, so I said thank you and sent my mother-in-law on her way. Out came the sander, some spray paint and an afternoon devoted to saving this dresser.
I began by taking out the drawers and sanding down the entire dresser. I wanted to get rid of all of the sheen from the previous stain and sealant to give the new paint a good surface to adhere to. After the dresser was sanded, I began to cover the entire piece with white spray paint. This was before chalk paint was a thing, y’all, so bear with me on that.
I was planning to paint the entire dresser solid white, but after sanding the faces of the drawers, I decided I loved the look the cabinets had just from being sanded. It gave it a very rustic feel. I then took the sander and sanded along the edges of the entire piece to give the dresser a weathered appearance.
To complete the dresser, I sprayed the top with a polycrylic and took out the pulls and knobs and sprayed them with a metallic spray paint. Here’s how the finished product turned out:
And another photo of the dresser displayed in our home:
It has been nine years I refinished this dresser and it has held up amazingly well. We have it in our living room and every day I look at it, I am thankful that my mother-in-law brought us this dresser. I am so happy with how it turned out and I’m glad that I gave it a chance.
Have you ever refinished a piece of furniture? How did your first refinishing project go? Share in the comments!
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