Monday, April 30, 2012

Dresser - Refinished.

The dresser is finished! Some harder than anticipated work but quite the transformation if you ask me. Originally, it was painted a creamy white and was in need of a makeover.


 Since it was going into the bedroom I've been working on, I wanted to freshen it up a bit. I gave it a coat of a deep grey paint (Debbie Travis Jet Set). While I loved the color, the paint didn't seem to want to dry. You can read about those troubles here.


After several botched attempts to save my paint job, we ultimately decided the best thing to do what to strip the paint. Right down to the bare bones. I ended up really enjoying this part. Dousing it in stripper, patiently waiting for it to bubble, then scraping off all that sticky goodness. 




Next, we shipped it off to my dad, who is the master of refinishing around these parts. We thought we had done all the prep work and just had to patiently wait for the call saying it was done. Not the case. The dresser was in fact pine, a wood my father chooses not to work with very often. In order for it to sand properly, you must scrape it well to reveal the bare wood. Stephane and I headed over one Saturday afternoon and went to work. After all, we did promise to do all the dirty work! The hardest part was stopping every five minutes to sharpen our scrapers.

In the process, we found an inscription on the bottom of a drawer by "Heath and Mildred, 1924". Kinda of fun! So we added our own names too:)


This is becoming a long post. Bear with me! Dad got to work sanding and adding the stain (Special Walnut). Here it is prior to varnish.


Here is the dresser all finished and in the room. We added glass knobs to the drawers and I love the touch of sparkle they add to the piece. 



I absolutely love painted furniture but sometimes it feel good to bring something back to it's original beauty. I'm quite happy with it! Thanks so much for your help, Dad! 

I can't wait to style it up. I'll be back with an update!

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29 comments:

  1. Looks beautiful! Can I send my potting bench to your dad to work his paint stripping magic? ;-)

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  2. It looks awesome! And I love the glass knobs you chose :)

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  3. Beautiful!! I need your dad - I am in the process of stripping a coffee table - ugh!

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  4. after all that, it looks beautiful! :) nicely done, jane!

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  5. How gorgeous! and how funny it is that you're stripping paint and I'm painting everything in sight!!! lol Lovely piece.

    xox

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  6. LOVE the dresser in it's wood finish! Such a stunning piece. I love when challenges unexpectedly bring you in a totally different and fabulous direction. xo
    I love those square glass knobs. I'd love to know you find these beauties!

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  7. GORGEOUS! And the glass knobs are such a lovely contrast against the antique wood. What a beautiful makeover. I like it even better than painted.

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  8. Looks great, Jane!

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  9. Family team work! It turned out great and I love the glass knobs. Perfect touch.

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  10. I love that you chose not to paint it! Looks fantastic and love the knobs!

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  11. love it!!!! SO much better than the painted version(s). The wood is really beautiful, and I love that now it has this little story, too.

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  12. That looks absolutely beautiful! I'm actually glad the paint failed...the wood looks so good!!

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  13. GORGEOUS! Love the story, love the walnut stain and those glass knobs are just perfect!

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  14. Really nice! Your dad did a great job... Dad's are the best! And I love the glass knobs. Perfect touch.

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  15. There is definitely a lot of painted furniture out there (and in my own house!), but there is just something so gorgeous about a natural wood grain that the warmth that wood tones bring to a room! Well worth all the extra effort, it's gorgeous! And how sweet is the inscription you found??? Love it.

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  16. I love the outcome! The dresser looks fantastic. Can't wait to see the completed room!

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  17. I totally agree about sometimes needing a little stained furniture in your life. I love how it turned out and the history!

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  18. It looks amazing!! you must be thrilled with it - so warm in the room. Great choice staining and not painting.

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  19. I LOVE the wood! The glass knobs are the icing on the cake too!

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  20. Wow, can't believe you can get the natural grain back this way, it looks great! I love natural woods and the color is just perfect :)

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  21. Wow! What a beautiful job you did! Found you on Emily's blog. Love your blog! Looking forward to reading more of it.

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  22. That dresser turned out so beautiful. What a wonderful job you have done with it. Megan

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  23. LOVE it! Lucky you to have such a talented dad. Way to persevere - I would of just dumped it!

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  24. I love it. It's so refreshing to see something go from a painted finish to it's natural beauty. Great job. Thanks for sharing at DIYbyDesign.

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  25. So beautiful. It looks like it was always that way. I am sure too, if you were to purchase that dresser looking like it does now, it would be a lot more expensive. Great job.

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  26. That dresser looks amazing! I just love special walnut. It's the perfect shade of brown. :)

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  27. Looks beautiful I'm currently doing the same with a dresser of mine I painted it but have changed my mind and now I'm going to use paint stripper and stain it instead

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Love hearing from you! Thanks so much :)