my first painted furniture project - dresser #1

Ever since we found out that we are expecting, I have been searching for the best storage solution for baby number five's clothes and supplies. Up until now, I was keeping her stuff in some Destination Maternity shopping bags and a laundry basket next to my work desk. She'll be sharing a room with us until we can finish up the basement so I wanted to keep her stuff in a central location in our multi-purpose master bedroom so that they would not easily get lost or mixed up with all the other things we have going on in here.  It can get unruly in here for days at a time.

A few weeks ago, after convincing my little family to go with me to Goodwill for just five minutes, yes literally five minutes (they were with me because we went grocery shopping together and Goodwill was right next door) we stumbled upon this nice basic dresser for just, drum roll please...$9.99+tax!



I was surprised and double checked the price tag (only five times or more), and was stunned with confusion that this piece of furniture cost less than a Sterilite 4 drawer plastic bin cart from Target (comparing because I was seriously considering getting the plastic bins as storage for baby number five's stuff if I couldn't find anything within budget and reason enough to justify the labor work to get it up and working).  Aside from the scratches, water stains on top, and extremely worn out and torn corner on one of the larger drawers, I figured this was going to be a good investment.  Sure, it wasn't 100% wood but if I was going to take on painting my first piece of furniture, it did not need to be perfect to start with. If it didn't turn out well, at least I didn't lose an arm and a leg for it.

I will admit that I was physically and emotionally drained after sanding and painting then sanding that first layer of primer and rolling on that second layer, I just kept thinking "what have I gotten myself into this time!!" (I am sure the pregnancy hormones had 120% to do with it). So after further research and a couple of days of getting my hopes (and energy) back up, I decided to use spray paint to finish it.  Due to pregnancy and exhaustion from sanding so much, I only sprayed two layers of paint, sanding between each layer, and went ahead and sealed it with some Polycrylic.  I was surprised that it turned out so nice for my very first furniture paint project.  I did make some mistakes like trying to fix the brush strokes on the Poly after it had dried for a minute already (you can really see the brush strokes in some areas now) and skimping on sanding the bottom trim (not as smooth as it could be), but I'm so proud of it.  Lessons learned and will be carried on to possibly perfect my next project (hopefully soon - but of course will definitely wait until after delivering baby number five).  Word from the wise (and pregnant) you can do anything if you set your mind to it, just don't give up.

Here it is, transformed from worn out and dated to gently worn and elegantly updated.

Close up of the handles and knob design.  You can see the sanded "worn" edges on the drawers.

Materials listed below:

Primer - Zinsser Cover Stain Oil-Base Interior & Exterior Primer
Spray paint - Rustoleum Painter's touch Ultra Cover 2x Spray Satin in Heirloom White
Finish - Minwax Polycrylic in Clear Semi-Gloss
Hardware - Liberty Fan Design handles and knobs in a satin nickel finish
Wood filler - Elmer's carpenter's wood filler
Gorilla Glue


Tools - Purdy paint brushes, hammer, screw driver, and sander (borrowed from my awesome brother).