diy re-finished shabby-chic dresser

so my best friend from high school got married. i thought i would be different and give them re-finished furniture - it lasts longer than a set of sheets or any other gift on their registry, plus its more personal... i got the idea from my parents house, and a piece of furniture they received as a wedding gift - they still have the piece today. i love that aspect.

so i re-did a dresser (i was so delayed on the gift that by the time i actually got to making it they were expecting their first baby. but it worked out for the best because they needed new baby furniture.) i did get it to them before they had been married for a year - so i was within the etiquette time frame standard. 

fortunately my mom was meandering st. vincent de paul by her house - its huge, the place was formerly a world market, so you can only image the size - she came across an americana style dresser - solid wood, dovetail drawers, no flaws... for $45. you cannot beat that.

i just can't believe what people give away - antique buffet (more on that later), awesome family crest glasses, silver rimmed whiskey glasses (that are now selling at some pottery barn company for $25 per glass), solid wood dining room chairs, etc.

i had some onlookers during the project - jake - he likes to supervise everything - note this is my parents dog - and he's such an odd bird, but we love him.

i started out de-glossing with Klean-Strip - "easy liquid sander deglosser" which is only to be used if you're PAINTING. do not use this if you intend on staining. this product essentially just takes the shine off of the piece and enables the paint to stick to the surface of the piece you're working on.

after deglossing we (as in the dogs and i?) wiped down the dresser with a wet cloth to make sure all of the deglosser was off of the piece. then it was time to start painting - i used valspar "minty" in a matte finish - adrienne picked out this color - as it was the most versatile for a baby's room.   a quart was more than enough - in fact there was left over which adrienne used to make some artwork for baby camille.

so i put on two coats of the valspar paint - no method to painting - just make sure it's dry in between coats. we were working in the shade, so that also helps.

dresser being painted

its easiest to paint with the drawers pulled out, so i would suggest pulling them out. you really only have to paint the fronts, so save yourself the time and paint - unless you are a top top top perfectionist. 

drawers pulled out being painted

after the paint is completely dry  in order to give it that "shabby chic" look i took 100 grit sand paper (yes a little rough) and lightly sanded the edges so get that "i've seen a lot" and "moved around a lot" and "i am loved but i can take a beating." this part is imperative to make sure the piece looks like it didn't come straight from ikea. when sanding i just think of where a piece of furniture is likely to get beat up the most - and that's on the edges and corners - especially around the top of the dresser - those corners see a lot of abuse.

all painted and sanded

once you get the paint sanded off - wipe down your piece - make sure it is COMPLETELY free of debris. i LOVE tack clothes for this reason, they are sticky and collect everything - and there is a plethora of them in my dad's garage since he is restoring an antique wooden cruiser.

so, once it is debris free, take your stain (i went with minwax walnut), put on some gloves, and dip a rag in to the stain and start wiping it on the piece - then have a clean towel handy to really wipe down any extra stain - this will darken your color you picked a pretty good amount - it gives it that aged looked - but still allows for that pop of color.

stain on frame, not the drawer fronts

allow the stain to dry - probably about 3 hours. then you can begin adding your protective coat. since i used a latex based paint and then an oil based stain - it is in your best interest to use a water based polycrylic protective finish. I used "minwax water based polycrylic protective finish" in a "clear semi-gloss." i put 5 coats of this stuff on - no joke. the more coats you put on the longer your paint and stain will last.

the last step was finding handles. that wasn't too bad - if i would have measured each and every width between the two holes - turns out this dresser has two different handle hole width - so that issue - because i didn't measure each and every distance between the two holes - caused a little headache - but it was completed - and i was able to find two handles that were similar in style (the top drawers were the only drawers with a different distance between the two holes for the handles). so

side view of completed piece - minus the handles

completed piece - minus the handles