Farmhouse Dresser Transformation
I can’t believe how good this dresser looks! It’s so wonderful to see how a piece of furniture that someone once considered trash can be given a new life…a fresh look. We have been looking for a dresser for our bedroom for some time. We had one in our bedroom at our old house, but once we moved to our new house we just didn’t think we would need one so I repainted it and put it in our son’s room. Well…a few months later we realized how beneficial it would be and so I started to be on the lookout for a piece of furniture.
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I can be a little picky when it comes to finding the right piece of thrifted furniture, but I think a lot of you would agree with my requirements. I look for pieces that have good bones-solid wood. It doesn’t have to be in perfect condition, but it has to have a good foundation and not need a substantial amount of work. Plus it also has to have a traditional look to it. I don’t like the modern looking furniture. Give me all the farmhouse pieces, or at least pieces that can be transformed into it.
Garage Sale Luck!
This dresser that I found was at a garage sale right down the road from our house. I noticed the garage sale sign coming home one afternoon and told myself to come back to it with the kids (because they love bargain shopping too). At the sale I spotted a cute mirror for $3 paid for it and took it home to redo it. I had spotted the dresser there, but didn’t really think much of looking at the price because I figured it would be priced too high and I wouldn’t be able to put it in the back of my SUV alone so I didn’t even flatter the idea.
However, the next day the family posted on Facebook that they were trying to get rid of the dresser and they were selling it for $20. BINGO! I sent a message claiming it and asked if I could just purchase the bottom of the dresser (not the top with the vanity). We picked it up and right away I was so excited to get this piece started once summer started.
Getting Started Right Away
I began brainstorming paint color ideas right away and as you can see I didn’t get very unique with that or brave to try another color haha I went with white. I chose this color though because I wanted to have very clean open look to our room and white always gives that feeling. Although, I did contemplate on if I wanted to sand down the top or paint it white and I decided to sand it down.
When I started sanding down the top I quickly realized that the top wasn’t real wood-yikes! I sanded too hard in the corner and found that out right away. Oh well! It added character and I learned that I had to use a gel stain on the top instead of an oil based stain.
I chose the gel stain because the top wasn’t real wood, so I didn’t want the oil based stain to try to soak into fake wood. The gel stain works great on fake wood because it doesn’t have to soak into the wood. I allowed the gel stain to set in for a week before I sealed it. The only seal I had in my garage was an oil based sealer. This will work on gel stain ONLY if you let the gel stain set for some time. I allowed mine to set for a week and it no longer gave that strong stain smell when I went up close to it, so I knew if I sealed it it would be ok.
Painting the Dresser
To paint the dresser, I first vacuumed it all out and wiped it down. I glued some of areas of the wooden frame that had cracked or broken off. Good ol fashion wood glue did the trick. It held down really well after allowing it to dry for a few days and clamping it. I used Rustoleum Chalk Paint in Linen White. This is such an easy paint to use. Chalk paint can go right onto furniture and doesn’t need primer. This is the perfect paint to use as a beginner. I paint my pieces using a chalk paint brush. I paint it in coats by allowing each coat to dry entirely before doing the next.
Once I did two coats of paint and allowing it to dry, I take a 220 grit sponge sanding block and soaked it in water. I then gently sand the entire piece in small movements. Doing this creates such a smooth surface. It also can take away any areas that may look streaky or where you may have gone too heavy with the paint. You need to be careful with this process though because you are wetting the paint so the paint can come off if you didn’t put enough coats on.
I love my pieces looking rustic, antique or distressed so I will rub a little harder on the edges or on places to give the natural distressed look. If you don’t like this look then just make sure to add enough coats of paint and wet sand carefully.
Challenges
The one thing about this dresser that I wanted to change were the outdated 90’s style designs engraved in the wood. The flowery water fountains. I didn’t want to keep them because they didn’t give me farmhouse feels. So, I began researching good wood fillers to use for this. I had never done this before and this was going to be quite the experiment. I have used wood fillers in the past but the ones I had used would show through the stain or paint or they were hard to work with (they wouldn’t stay where I placed it or they would harden and crumble).
Through my research, I discovered Bondo wood filler. Reviews said that it was easy to work with, filled in holes really well and it did not show through paint or stain. I was willing to give it a try. The only place I could find Bondo was on Amazon. Home Depot and Walmart were out in a few locations so I just ordered it through Amazon and waited about 4 days for it to get to my house.
Using Wood Filler
My warning with Bondo is that if you are doing it outside on a hot day it will dry much quicker! You have to move fast with this wood filler because once it starts to dry it is hard to shape and work with. Also, make sure to do it in a well ventilated area because it is quite stinky. The smell is strong with chemicals so we did do this outside for this reason.
Also, make sure to use a little bit at a time. We ended up covering these designs with three layers of Bondo wood filler so they wouldn’t show anymore. Don’t use the whole container of wood filler at once because you’ll have to buy more.
After the third layer of wood filler, I sanded it down trying to make it an even all the way across. I wiped it down and you could seal it with Shellac, but I forgot to and began painting over it right away. The results are amazing! You can’t even tell that the designs were once there!
Hardware
I purchased new pulls and knobs for this piece. This was a bit of a challenge because the distance between the holes was not the same throughout the entire dresser. I could have filled the holes and drilled new ones, but didn’t feel like going through with that.
I ordered the pulls through Amazon. The black knobs on the cabinet doors are from Hobby Lobby and the black plates behind the knobs are the originals that I kept and spray painted black.
What do y’all think on how it turned out?
If you are new to this don’t be afraid to just try. Start with a small piece of furniture and work your way to the bigger pieces. It is amazing to see how you can transform something. This allows you to be creative an personalize the pieces in your home.
Check out my farmhouse hutch I completed last year during a huge ice storm. I thought I would never get this project done because we had so much ice and snow. The electricity was off for 24 hours and temperatures were in the teens. It was an insane experience but I am in love the results of my hutch. Check out the post here.
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