The Story of an Old Dresser

A parents-lead house clean up drive, meant that most of the old furniture was given away to get new ones and what was left didn’t really go with my new, white room. My sisters shoddy old dresser was handed down (taken to be correct) to me and it looked really out of place in my newly painted, stark white, room. I didn’t want to throw it away (oh! so sentimental) and, I was on a serious budget (oh! so stingy).

You see, I’m quite stingy by nature but very greedy and sentimental. It’s a lethal combination. But hey, I guess that’s why I fall in love with old buildings and then restore them, then fall in love again.

According to me, there’s nothing that can’t be reinvented (restoration architect lingo kicking in there!!) with a hit of hue and a wild imagination. I’d painted my bedroom white, hoping to fill it with some fresh and fabulous colour and I was on the look out for all things bright and beautiful!

The old dresser was in good condition, apart from a few chips here and there and that meant this baby was primed for a major makeover. A bit of sanding, priming and a few coats of yellow paint took it from eek!!! to chic in just a few hours.

The shoddy old dresser that was crying out for a makeover!

Sanding is a great way to help prepare a surface for paint, but I also followed this with a thin coat of grey oil-based primer (£4) for the darker sunshine-yellow paint. Then I followed the coat of primer with two coats of gloss latex paint in sunshine yellow!!(£5) applied with a fine brush for a smooth and bubble-free application. Many people think rollers are the way to a smooth finish…but only for walls. When painting furniture items, paint brushes offer a smoother finish (paint sprayers too but paint brushes are less messy and easily affordable). Just remember that two-four thin coats are much better than one or two globby ones.

 Easy, right? There’s really no reason to live with wood furniture that’s not the exact tone or shade that you’d like. So go forth and paint something!

From ordinary to iconic!
My fabulous,retro-chic dresser is a perfect match for my IKEA cushions(£1.50 each!)
and the BOBBY movie poster I designed. I'm in LOVE!!!

Every time i walk into my room, this cheers me up!