doityourself |

Here is my newest project! It is solid wood and has some major character so I was really excited to get started on this piece. It was in pretty rough shape – the old stain was peeling off, the bottom drawer was not actually a drawer and just a drawer face nailed on, and it only had 3 casters, all of which were just the metal frames and no wheels.

Since I was so excited, I forgot to take a good picture so, you’ll have to do with this:

Supplies Needed:

Sander
Stain (color(s) of you choice)
New hardware (optional)
New castors (optional)- the castors currently on this dresser were worn out. I didn’t have to order new ones but, I thought the castors were what gave this piece all the character so I went ahead and got some.

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Sand everything! If you don’t have an electric sander, I would recommend one. However, it’s not impossible to sand by hand, it may just take a little extra muscle and a few extra cuss words.

When I was sanding, I found these stamps on the back. I can’t make out the first set of numbers, although they look like date. The second set of numbers says $442. I guess that means the original price was $442? If you happen to know, please comment below!

Step 2: After it was all sanded, I saw a HUGE difference! I ordered 4 new casters from Amazon (link below) and put them on the dresser. This step was really easy. Since the dresser had casters previously,the inserts were already installed. However, the casters I ordered came with the inserts as well and they are easy to install. You just drill a hole in the bottom of the dresser leg, hammer in the insert and then the wheels will just snap in.

http://www.amazon.com/Shepherd-Hardware-9347-8-Inch-Medium/dp/B00004YOK0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

Step 3: Time to stain! Since this piece has great wood, I chose to stain it. I thought it would be a waste to paint something as pretty as this. I wanted to keep this as a classic look but, also add a modern touch so I decided to use two colors of stain to jazz it up. I used Minwax Honey and Classic Grey. I used gray for the dresser frame and the honey for the drawer fronts, top, and sides of dresser.

Step 4: I chose just to remove the faux drawer and make it a shelf. I went Lowe’s and got a pine board and had them cut it to size. I stained the drawer insert with the Classic Gray. However, on the pine, it almost looked blue- but I still liked it! Plus, I know I would be putting blankets on that shelf so it wasn’t a big deal.

Step 5. I finished up by adding some new drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby.

Thanks for reading!

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