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Pinterest Challenge Reveal: The Dresser!

Wednesday, May 8

Meet my new friend:
When YHL and Bower Power announced the Spring Pinterest Challenge last week, I immediately knew what I wanted to tackle: my dresser. Although my desk has been on the “to DIY” docket for quite some time, it will be a bigger project than one week allows – so my dresser was the clear winner.

I picked up this dresser at the Habitat for Humanity Restore a couple of years ago when I still lived in Ontario. It was $40. It has amazing lines but was in rough shape. Time/money/space hadn’t allowed for me to refinish it before now, but I thought this challenge was the perfect motivation to finally get it done. 

Here's what it looked like before:
First, I had to figure out how exactly I wanted to fix it up. I scrolled through my Pinterest inspiration images and was immediately drawn to these two images:
I just love how the bright white contrasts with the rich wood tone.
After reading through Amy’s comments on Design Sponge and Kate’s furniture painting tutorial, I headed off to Home Depot in search of supplies. I picked up Behr high gloss interior paint in Ultra Pure White (the default) and Minwax oil-based stain in Jacobean (plus wood pre-conditioner and polyurethane – same as this post). I would definitely advocate for using a water-based stain if you can – clean-up following oil-based stain is the worst. Unfortunately, none of the water-based colours were quite right for what I had in mind.
Next, I lugged my dresser out onto the back deck, removed the drawers, unscrewed the legs, and laid everything out on garbage bags. 
I used a sanding block to sand the groove on the front of the doors – this was the worst part of the whole project. SO time consuming with very little pay off. Really, I probably should have sanded everything more than I did but I just got so sick of sanding, haha.
Left is sanded; Right is not.
Once I had sanded most of the previous finish off of the drawer grooves, I broke out my dad’s electric sander and sanded down the rest of the drawer fronts, the legs, and the dresser frame. 
Then, the frame got one coat of white primer (Zinnser’s Cover Stain) – although I probably should have given it two, followed by three coats of high gloss white paint.
Post-Primer.

The drawers and legs got a coat of preconditioner, two coats of stain, and a top coat of polyurethane (following the instructions on the cans). This whole process took from noon on Saturday to Monday before work, counting drying time (and living my life time).
Then, Monday night I put it all together! And here’s how it looks in my space:
I can’t stop looking at it. You can see it from the hall and I just love the high-contrast when I pass by. It has serious impact. One thing I don’t love is how visible the brush strokes are in the high gloss paint. I may go back later and put a white lacquer over top of the white paint – but that will require a bit more time and effort than I’m able to devote right now. So for now, it’s good as is!
What do you think? This project is definitely inspiring me to make a few little changes to my bedroom. I’ll be sharing those soon!
Thanks to Sherry & John, Katie, Emily, and Renee for hosting the challenge! 
(You can check out their super creative projects by clicking on their names)

You can check out my past Pinterest Challenge projects here and here.

(And if you’ve clicked over from the challenge, thanks for stopping by! If you’d like to see more projects like this, you can follow me on Bloglovin’ or on Google Friend Connect on the left sidebar.)

38 comments

  1. WOW! It looks amazing! I love it, I want it, nice work. - Laura

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  2. That is stunning and kind of hard to believe it's the same piece!

    Great job!!

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    1. Thanks so much! I honestly didn't expect it to be such a dramatic difference, haha.

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  3. Holy moly that looks amazing!! I LOVE how you brought out the wood tones in the drawers. Makes it even more dramatic with the white. LOVE this one!!!

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    1. Thank you, Katja! The blue you used in your challenge is STUNNING.

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  4. This looks amazing!!! I tend to shy away from furniture redos because it seems like such a huge commitment, but this post is definitely changing my mind.

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    1. Thanks Joanna! It definitely took some elbow grease but is TOTALLY doable for the average person. And seeing the transformation is pretty fun!!

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  5. Wow wow!! Nice job that looks wonderful

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  6. LOOOOOVEEEE the end result!!! It amazes me how people can turn trash into treasure. That dresser looks FAB and I'm sure would cost a pretty penny if you bought it all spruced up like that. Great job!!!

    Love your blog....Now following!

    -ileana
    www.ileanamarcel.com

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    1. Haha, thanks Ileana! The difference is definitely dramatic! And thanks for the follow :)

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  7. I found you from the YHL link up and oh-my. I. Am. Obsessed. I couldn't pin this fast enough. It looks amazing. Gorgeous. Stunning. Breathtaking. It is just...I would want to look at it all day long. It's perfect. Great project!

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    1. Hahahaha, thanks so much Stacey! Your comment just made my day.

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  8. This turned out great! I have a couple pieces that I have wanted to paint for awhile and this is definitely giving me some inspiration! Love it!
    www.gimmesomestyleblog.com

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    1. Thanks Liz! You should totally try it! It's very satisfying!

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  9. oh, wow--that turned out beautifully! love it!

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  10. Absolutely gorgeous!! I love how it turned out.

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  11. Awesome! Great job- I love this style and have been wanting to try something similar but keep holding off. Your transformation looks great and in just one good solid weekend! I am feeling inspired... :-)

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    1. Thanks Lindsey! You should definitely go for it! The payoff is so rewarding.

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  12. These turned out fantastically. I love the combination of white and wood!

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  13. Pretty pretty pretty! Great work!

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  14. I love this look! I did the same thing to a 9 drawer mid century dresser. It's the piece that everyone talks about when they come over. I love the lines of the nightstand. It really looks amazing. Great job!

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    1. Thanks, Amber! Your dresser sounds awesome :)

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  15. this looks amazing! I've been meaning to do just this and have been scouring craigslist for a great dresser with good bones. nice job!

    //justynn

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    1. Thanks Justynn! Good luck finding your diamond in the rough ;)

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  16. hi vanessa! this dresser is beautiful.great job! i love the contrast of white and wood. i live about 5 minutes from the habitat store in atlanta and check it out often....unfortunately no cool furniture scored....yet.
    thanks for stopping by my blog!!
    cindy

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    1. Thanks Cindy! Yeah - I feel like I find something amazing every 10th time I go to Habitat. It takes persistence!

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  17. Looks amazing! Seriously. Interesting that the white could still use a top coat. Good to know.

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    1. Oh, thanks ;) And yes - up close, you can see all of the brush strokes. Definitely going to try the lacquer when I have time.

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  18. I'm so very behind on my blog reading since going back to work, but I wanted to say that I just love this update! It looks awesome and makes me want to hunt down some older pieces of furniture to salvage!

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    1. Thanks Mel! I love it more every day. In fact, I'm trying to figure out how to do something similar (but not the same) to my desk!

      P.S. Hope the non-mat leave life is treating you well!

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