DIY Dresser Make Over

Before John and I got married, I worked for a nice lady at the bank who gave me some old furniture she didn't need anymore.  I got two dressers, one with a mirror, and a nightstand.  Seventeen years, two apartments, three houses, and three cities later, I finally got my first set of real bedroom furniture and gave these pieces to my kids.  But they are very 80's and a little beat up.  Inspired by a blog post on DIY On the Cheap, I decided to refinish them myself.

BEFORE:  Ugly, banged up brown.

So I pulled the drawers out, took the hardware off, and started sanding.  The fronts and the drawers were solid wood, but the tops and sides were a kind of veneer.  I thought I could stain them, like the lady in the blog, but the stain didn't work, so we decided to paint the tops black.  It helped to hide some minor damage and provided the contrast I wanted.  You can paint anything, by the way.

We sanded all the pieces and then primed them with Kilz.  It's a miracle product and makes the paint stick.

AFTER:

I also replaced all the ugly, 80's-style brass handles with new black ones to match the tops.  Hannah is so excited about her "new" furniture, and I think it's going to make her room look more comfortable.