I picked this simple little dresser up from a Goodwill for $20.
Although the peg legs, color, and even drawer handles brought on 60s era nose-wrinkle, I was interested in it because it was small, lightweight and easy to pull drawers.
The dresser was meant for my 3-year-old daughter, so having easy sliding drawers was crucial for the independent little miss to get her own clothes in and out.
The size was the next big thing.
The dresser needed to be short and narrow enough to fit under the window of my girls’ room, and it could only be the width of the window because I had a twin sized bed and a baby crib on either side of the window that it had to fit between. It also had to be far enough off the ground to allow heat from the baseboard heaters to flow under as well as behind the dresser. And in between being short, narrow, and off the ground, it needed to offer enough space to store all of my daughter’s clothes.
Whew! Quite the list, right!?
Despite the lengthy list of bullets to hit, this little dresser met them all.
Despite the “screamin’ 60s” peg legs and creamy-olive finish, I saw this one as the perfect fit for not only my space at home, but also budget and timeframe.
Without exhausting you with all the details, I was down to a four week timeframe of when I needed to have a new dresser for my two girls’ room. That said, I didn’t have time to buy a dresser that needed a lot of work and attention. I simply needed a dresser that I could fix up relatively easily, and one that met my needs.
All this dresser needed was a fresh layer of makeup – a new coat of paint, that is. Oh – and preferably some different legs (can you tell I have a bias against peg legged furniture?).
Now, there are plenty of furniture makeover gurus who would balk at the idea that all I did was add paint to this dresser without undergoing the proper steps of stripping and sanding first. I am sure they would roll their eyes and criticize.
But here’s the thing: we’ve all got lives to live. We never want to be sloppy in what we do, but sometimes we have to factor in “the everything else” going on in our lives when we pick and tackle our projects.
Not only was I on a timeframe to get this done in less than four weeks, I a
The final product turned out almost how I imagined it.
Well … almost. You’ll see I ended up keeping the peg legs.
I had pictured replacing these gag-encouraging peg legs with 6” 2×2 legs, with a light wood stain to enhance that white/wood look. However, that plan got readjusted. Rather than being tacked to the bottom like a lot of modern dressers, these pegs were built into the base frame of the dresser.
I technically could have still replaced them with my planned-for square wooden legs, but the time and effort needed to do so didn’t seem so important when it was all said and done. And who’s to say I won’t tackle that project in the future!?
Here's What I Did:
1.Clean Surface
Above, I pointed out how I didn’t want to sand off the paint on this dresser. The paint/finish was original, which left the concern that it could be lead-based paint.
Because the paint/finish was undisturbed, having little to no cracks or chips in the finished surface, I felt like this dresser was a safe piece of furniture to bring into my home.
The dresser was in really good condition, which meant that all that was needed was cleaning the surface of the dresser before applying primer and paint.
2. Prime
I ended up applying two separate coats of primer.
3. Paint
After allowing both coats of primer to fully dry. I then applied my paint. Again, I applied two separate, thin coats of paint. With this particular paint/color, I’ve found I get that light and creamy look best by doing multiple, light coats as opposed to a heavier, thick coat of paint.
I bought this gallon of paint from an “mess ups” pile of paints at a hardware store at half price. This is my third furniture project using this same gallon of paint.
Perhaps I’m a little more crazy than brave to be painting all the furniture in my kids’ room white, but I love how bright it makes the room look. And so far, I haven’t had an issue with the white looking particularly dirty.
4. Knob Switch
Here, I simply switched out the old metal knobs and drawer handles with wood. Nothing too fancy.
Project Review:
All in all, this meant-to-be-simple project was a success. I knew when I decided to keep the peg legs that any hopes I had of completely shaking off the 1960s look of this dresser were in vain. There is a definite 60s vibe that still shines through past the paint layers.
BUT, the bright white color combined with the light wood knobs and handles gave this dresser the clean and fresh farmhouse look I was aiming for.
And I was able to make this change in just a few hours of my time spent painting.