This is a Cinderella story if there ever was one! Last summer I picked up this poor cottage style dresser for a song at my favorite stand that sits along the side of the road. When I brought it home, but my husband had a hard time seeing the beauty that I saw. He thought it would be great firewood for an evening campfire! But, I had fallen for its cute small size and curvy lines and thought it deserved a second chance.
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COTTAGE STYLE DRESSER BEFORE
Look at the top! Mark thinks it was used in a work shop. There was even a hole drilled completely through. Initially, I thought about converting this cottage style dresser into a kitchen island. Mark removed the top and made a farmhouse table style top for it with an overhang, but it just didn’t look right. Then I thought about converting it into a hutch by adding shelves or adding a shallow plate rack above it . . . but nothing I tried seemed quite right.
Then, I went out into the garage to get something and walked past my little stash of other things I’ve brought home ( much to my husband’s dismay) and saw this curved architectural piece. I brought it in and sat it on top and that was it! I had Mark attach it to the back of the dresser with metal brackets.
The drawers and top of the dresser got sanded, the hole in the top was filled with a piece of wooden dowel, the old hardware was removed (it was not a matching set), and the holes filled in with wood filler and sanded. Then, it got a good cleaning with TSP solution. Finally, it was ready for paint.
I used chalk paint, which makes it so much easier because you don’t have to use a primer. I decided to paint the top and drawers gray against the white background of the main dresser. It only took two coats of paint to complete and then was finished off with some clear wax. I found the mercury glass pulls for the drawers at Home Goods. I did paint the interior of the drawers and still want to line them with a pretty paper.
THE FINISHED DRESSER
So, what do you think of this little cottage style dresser? If you saw this dresser in it’s before state, would you have given it any hope? I’d love to hear what you think!
Here are a few more furniture makeovers that you might like:
Naomi Chance
Friday 1st of May 2020
Wow - it came out just beautiful! You are incredibly talented and creative :)
Sherry
Friday 17th of April 2020
I am a sucker for old dressers and would have snatched this one up in a heartbeat. You did a fabulous job in refinishing and repurposing it. It's beautiful!
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