Dresser Restoration (for my bedroom)

DAY 1

Finally getting to start something for myself.  Here's a dresser that I'm redoing.

I started with a little bit of sanding.  Not too much because I'm using chalk paint over top so I wanted to get the coat of poly off and also some of the imperfections out...If I got down to the bare wood I went back over those spots with dark walnut stain so that when I distress it you'll see a dark finish underneath.

Then I put my first coat of chalk paint on, this color is called Florence (which is kind of a bluish-green).

Oh yes, I'm super pumped up in here!

Then I put some wood filler in the old handle screw holes and drilled new ones that will be centered in the middle of each drawer.  Hobby Lobby only had 5, so I'll need to get 5 more once they restock.

New knobs are shown below

And lastly I got a second coat of chalk paint put on.

So, next on the list is to sand the drawers and paint two coats of chalk paint on them.  Then I get to distress and wax.  I'm excited!!

DAY 2

I'M IN DISTRESS!!

Yes, that was my lame joke of the day.  But I think that distressing furniture may be my new favorite thing EVER!  And for some reason, when I take a picture the color looks extremely blue but this picture above is pretty close to the true color.

So I got another coat of chalk paint put on the sides of the dresser (this was coat #3). And I distressed the areas that I felt would get normal wear and tear.  These pictures may look a bit odd because I just painted two coats of chalk paint on the drawers so those still have work to be done.

Dresser without the drawers and just distressed.  The picture below is with the newly painted drawers.

And, here's a side view.

I did end up putting clear wax all over the main frame of the dresser and letting that sit over night.  Next things to do on my "to-do" list is distress the drawers and clear wax them...then go over the entire piece with dark wax and put on the new handles.  So, about a days work left (more like an evening since I work on these after I get off work) I'm so excited to see it finished and in my room!  The best part is, I just got all of the squares cut out for a quilt my sister is making for me so everything should begin to match in my bedroom...FINALLY!

DAY 3

Looking over the blog yesterday for some reason I felt the need to count the holes I drilled in the drawers...I counted 7...and I knew that I needed to buy 10 knobs.  Yep, I made a mistake and only drilled one center hole in the middle of the longer drawers instead of 2 on the outer sides...so I went to go put more wood filler in those last night and I'll need to sand and repaint the middle.  I can never make projects easy...

I also did the distressing on the drawers where the "wear and tear" would occur with the knobs.  I still need to put a layer of clear wax on them, then dark wax.

Speaking of dark wax I did do a little of that last night too.  Doesn't that look awesome??

And just to give you a little comparison of what it looks like with and without dark wax.

So what turned in to only 1 more day of work, it's now looking to be around 2-3 more days.  Oh well, I'm excited to get it home!

DAY 4

Phew!  I'm so glad it's done!!!

So I went back and sanded, then re-painted my "silly" holes in the middle of the three drawers.

Then went on to clear and dark wax the drawers and the sides of the dresser.

Then added my pretty knobs that I got from Hobby Lobby.

A couple different views of the dresser now that it's finished.

Side view.  And to the conclusion of every project, the before and after...