Apartment Therapy readers are a creative force that I have learned to never underestimate — if they can dream it up, they always find a way make it a reality. Ben had gotten tired of his sturdy, but plain, vintage dresser and simply went all out with a very creative makeover process that yielded truly one-of-a-kind results …
Here is Ben's story, including details on how he pulled off the transformation:
I bought the mid-century style dresser online from a couple of guys who got it at an estate sale, for a couple hundred bucks. My wife and I used the old soild wood dresserfor two years before its drabness finally got to me; seeing all these other dresser makeovers on Apartment Therapy on a regular basis inspired me to finally give it a go.
After lightly sanding and cleaning all the dresser surfaces, I affixed each panel of wallpaper (by Ferm Living, bought on sale at 2Modern) with standard wallpaper paste; the trick was getting it to stick around the corners and edges, which I reinforced with Mod Podge. I chose not to apply sealer to the wallpaper, since the nonwoven nature of the wallpaper renders it pretty durable to begin with.
The old legs were easily unscrewed, but the front buttressing bracket on the bottom had to be sawed off, which I did by hand. I had the blackened steel base custom made by a blacksmith on Etsy Alchemy.The commissioned base is raw 1" tubular steel that screwed in perfectly.
The drawer fronts were redone with Douglas Fir veneer.The drawer fronts were veneered over with pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) veneer, the edges of which were then trimmed and sanded by hand. Finally, i applied Tried & True Danish oil to finish it.
The initial inspiration, which I came across years ago, was BDDW's Lake dresser, which I drooled over for quite a while. Nevertheless, despite my keen appreciation for quality furniture pieces, the price I was quoted when I inquired about buying one - let's just say it wasn't 4 but in fact 5 digits - was too much for me (plus my wife would've killed me for even thinking about it).
All in all, I tried to keep the project as green as possible, since it sits in our master bedroom.
Thanks, Ben!
MORE DRESSER MAKEOVERS ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• Before & After: Morgana's Dressed Up Dresser
• Before & After: Kate's Ikea Rast Dresser Hack
• Before & After: Dresser Turned Bathroom Vanity
Images: Ben Hsu
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Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
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The Eight-Step Home Cure 
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great job! i kinda like what it looked like before..but i really like how it looks now! :]
Not for me, I love wood. But chacun à son goût.
so cool & modern now!
beautiful job!! love it.
Not really sure why a similar look couldn't have been created on an Ikea dresser. You could have sold that beautiful MCM dresser for a couple hundred on Ebay or Craigslist.
I'm not crazy about it. The paper is a tad too busy and clashes with the warm color of the wood.
Even though it's not my style, I am really impressed with your vision and your workmanship. Definitely not "loving hands at home" - a real art piece :-).
It looks great!
I love it! I'm not fond of that type of wood grain/whatever at all.
Great idea, and a wonderful economic way for using wall paper, can't wait for the opportunity
to work on a piece using this concept !
As Ever
Montgomery X
I like the wood in the new pic, but I don't like the pattern at all. It is way too busy. It wouldn't let your eye go anywhere else in a room. I can understand wanting to spruce up the drab. But this does not look fresh, in my opinion.
Poor dresser :[ The finished project is cool, but not at the expense of that gorgeous piece you started with. RKtect is right- Could've done that with an Ikea dresser.
I preferred it before. A pretty piece of solid wood furniture is a thing of beauty.
But he did a beautiful job on changing it more to his taste.
I prefer the before, but it looks well done.
Great job Ben!
I don't know why you would do that to a beautiful piece of wood furniture. This makes me a little queasy.
I love the idea - I have a crappy IKEA dresser that could be spruced up for our soon-to-be nursery.
Im not a fan of this tranformer either. Like the before better but good efforts....
I appreciate the effort and love the pattern of the paper. I also appreciate that you weren't wed to the idea of a piece being too "precious" to make it fit for you and your family. Wood furniture elicits such a wide range of reactions from people but in the end, you created a piece you love and works for you so BRAVO!
I would do the drawers a wash or stain that matches the wallpaper.
the new look is cool and i do love that wallpaper pattern. but it's sad the original piece is lost. it could of been spruced with some mid-century hardware and still kept it's original glamour!
yes, the wallpaper is busy, but i think the blank drawer fronts provides enough of a rest - i love the effect - but that must have been a lot of work sawing off that bracket on the bottom!
Great idea and the finished piece is very polished but again, I'm with the others who feel that the original was lovely. I would have much preferred to see this makeover on a piece that was ugly and battered to start with, rather than doing irreparable damage to a dresser that so many people would have cherished!
Sad. I appreciate your attempt and work but why on this vintage walnut piece? I am sorry but I refinish vintage furniture and have spent alot of time reviving mid century wood pieces abused by years of use, misuse and abuse. This piece now in its "new" state falls into that category. These pieces are getting harder to find and furniture will never be made this way again especially here in America where alot of the best Danish Modern lines came from. If you cant revive at least respect the old but please dont destroy it.
I have long swooned over BDDW's designs. Amazing, crazy pricey, but gorgeous! Love your retake!
Oh no, I loved the before :(
you know, i like wood, i like mid-century furniture, but i like this transformation, too. nice job.
Not my style, but it looks really nice.
An Ikea dresser wouldn't last as long as this piece.. which is probably why he was willing to spring a couple hundred bucks for it. Guy buys a nice solid piece of vintage furniture that will last forever, reworks it to go with his design preferences. Doesn't go into a landfill, doesn't affect structural integrity. Sounds good to me!
Liked the before. We have that dresser. We r gonna switch it to sons room maybe paint it but preserve the dressers design.
Love it!
It's nicely done, but I hate the wallpaper pattern.
I, too, believe that you could have used a cheaper piece instead.
I like both versions! Congrats on a great job, Ben.
From the sounds of it, we shouldn't be creative with furniture that's worth anything - save it for the stuff at IKEA that'll fall apart (along with your efforts) in a move or two!
The final piece is creative - with a different pattern I'd love to have it! The original looks just like something I'd find/buy and redo. Why would I waste my time on IKEA junk?
it looks like a a job done well, but I personally find its original appearance more appealing.
This is great! I clicked the link expecting to see yet another dresser with wallpapered drawer fronts - this is a refreshing change from that overdone look and IMO a definite improvement over the looks of the piece in its original state. Awesome.
I don't know, it seems like a lot of work to make it something it really wasn't. IKEA stuff doesn't fall apart all that fast in my experience. I will say that the after looks skillfully done, if not to my taste.
I'm usually not a fan of negative comments on things people own and have the right to mess with, but I'm 100% with RKtect here.... I really covet walnut MCM furniture and pieces like this are difficult to find.
I can see where irry is coming from, buuut there are a lot of ugly dressers that could have been salvaged and saved from a landfill. A lot of people would have bought the original in a second.
OH MY GOD it's just furniture people!
This is the bomb. Haters gon' hate.
I really like it! I agree with the people who see the value in being creative with a peice that will actually last and not something from Ikea that will just fall apart. Just like the previous poster said, it's a quality piece of furniture reworked to the owner's preference and it's not going to a landfill! It's awesome! And whether it's your style or not, a lot of effort was put into it and it was done very well.
Awesome job! Don't listen to the naysayers, just enjoy your dresser!
:( I really liked the original, and it was in great condition.
@pheebs79 - it didn't have to be Ikea, but even a dresser that wasn't in nearly as "mint" shape as this could have been used. It's just that this dresser, in its original condition, was just SO GOOD. It looked nearly perfect. And now it's just covered up with wallpaper.
Rock ON, BEN.
If there is a lesson to be found in all this commentary, it may be that one must make one's Befores look as unattractive as possible.
And shoot Afters from precisely the same angle.
The furniture is not wasted, ruined, or destroyed. Good on you for making it what you wanted.
Haters gon' hate.
Does anyone EVER submit anything here that no one bitches about? Ever?
ENOUGH with the "it's MCM and solid wood...we have to put it up on a pedestal and not touch it". Should we light candles and create a shrine to it too? Geez....
I think it's a fantastic redo and while the original walnut drawer faces didn't make the cut, the end product is fresh and new and will last longer than an Ikea hack.
I'm with pheebs79 and Pi on this one. Yes - it was a cool makeover but I feel the disrespect shown to the MCM. I don't think this, more transient, box fashion justifies the damage.
I'm not typically a person who wants to keep solid wood pieces as is, but I actually prefer the before. I don't mind painting an antique, but this is one exception. Not that I'm hating on the after — it does look cool, but in this case, I would've kept the beautiful wood as is.
I liked the before piece but I also like the artsy-ness of the after. Maybe better wallpaper?
Wow, some people take it personally when someone alters a piece of vintage furniture to suit their own taste and lifestyle. Maybe AT can have a new feature for would-be furniture-renovators, something along the lines of, "I'm about to rework this tired old dresser/desk/chair, but if you like it the way it is, make me an offer before I go buy the Mod Podge."
Or how about having a poll at the top of the comments section where one choice is "I liked it better before." That would save a lot of people from having to sign in and make that point if that's all they have to say.
Well, I like it. I think the boldness paid off. I didn't see the after potential in the before picture, but Ben did.
@LisaL - it's not even just disrespect, as you say. If it was an MCM piece in shabbier cosmetic condition, but the structure was still perfectly good, I'd be fine with redoing it with wallpaper. But this dresser was in near perfect condition as it was...those are pretty rare! Usually dressers are dinged up, have big scratches, etc. I have MCM end tables in my bedroom and one of them has a chunk missing from the back corner! It got me a good discount, but you know, as things get older, it's hard to find pieces that are still in good condition and don't need refinishing.
@Shauntelle LeBlanc - I don't think most people are bothered by the fact that this was done to a MCM dresser - I think most people are bothered by the fact that it was done to a MCM dresser in such amazing condition. These aren't exactly dime a dozen anymore, you know? Any piece that has to be refinished will end up with several hundred dollars added to its asking price (on top of the MCM "lineage"), making it hard to afford these vintage pieces in the future. Anytime a near perfect piece can be found for a few hundred dollars is cause for celebration.
Not my taste, but definitely a fantastic job! Would you ever consider bleaching the wood drawer fronts?
Love it!!! So different and one of a kind...can't beat that. Thanks for sharing.
The horror! The horror!!!!!
This is almost as bad as painting over crotch mahogany with white paint to obtain a "Shabby Chic" look. How incredibly tacky!
its your dresser in your house - old doesn't always = precious, live a little
The before was too dark; I like the result a lot. Maybe refinishing the wood would get better reviews, but to each his/her own!
The MCM dresser was rare and in great shape, blah, blah, blah - so what! I find it butt-ugly, and apparently Ben did, too. Now he has a well-made piece of furniture which will last for years, and which he loves. It's not to my personal taste - wallpaper is meh, and the wood is a serious mismatch - but the concept and execution are great.
As to the "you could have used ikea" POV, after 20 years of settling, I have taken a vow to never buy furniture again from ikea, target, home depot, or the like. My new pieces are Armani, Le Corbusier and Jonathan Adler, which I expect to keep forever, and if I feel like covering them with wallpaper someday, I will. HAH!
@Pi
I'm a vintage furniture dealer with a background in retail/restaurant and hospitality interior design, and trust me, MCM dressers in good condition are readily available. Everyone had them back then and everyone took good care of their furniture. Just check your local Craigslist listings or estate sale listings. I come across pristine 50's bedroom sets all the time when I'm buying for my store, and I have to turn them down because everyone wants a queen or king bedframe (these are typically double beds) and unless the dressers are danish teak, no one in my market wants them either. It's sad because I truly love these pieces but cannot sell them.
Why?????
what a shame of that old dresser! Not sure I like this too much.....
Here's hoping in ten years he'll tired of it, donate it, and I'll pick it up for $50 at Goodwill. I'll then restore it back to its "before" status :)
@Shuantelle LeBlanc I agree with you that there are plenty of MCM dressers out there.
I have a hard time believing that you have trouble selling them. I'm in southern California and the demand is VERY high. I wish I had a never-ending supply.
@space87
Everyone here in Toronto is obsessed with danish teak. They turn their nose up at walnut, and they'll run screaming from blondewood. I try to focus on Canadian designed pieces for my store but it's challenging as everyone is stuck on the Herman Miller/Knoll/Scandinavian bandwagon.
Guess what? Adults can do whatever they want with their stuff. We don't have to ask the web for permission.
@Shautelle LeBlanc Ok, I totally agree with you that NOBODY seems to want blondewood anymore (which is actually what i personally collect so I've gotten some deals :))
Here in So Cal walnut is in demand almost as much as teak though (as long as the style truly is mid century modern).
Being a longtime AT reader, I knew from the beginning this was going to be a feather-ruffler, but....this was really beyond my wildest dreams! Thanks everyone, for truly making my day.
For what it's worth, one of the reasons this project finally happened is that while I really do admire the bones and lines of MCM, I've kinda tired of its ubiquity. Yeah, I get it guys, they're classics for a reason....but didn't I just see that exact same House Tour last week?
Incidentally, my wife is gonna get a good laugh out of this one; she's awesome and (usually) supportive, but also my biggest design critic. Nothing here - so far - can hold a torch to some of the things she's said about my past projects =D
I really do appreciate all the comments, both pro and con. Hey, one man's horror, is another's swoon. Anyone want to see another house tour?!
I've been meaning to do something like this with my crappy pressboard dressers, and this post was very inspirational in that respect.
Pretty brave to do it with this dark wood piece. Brave or crazy.
@bennysoup - glad you have a sense of humor, ha!
OK I'm not a fan of that wallpaper BUT you gave me an idea here...to use wallpaper on my crap IKEA dresser.
I'm not using this on my MCM dresser, scored at Salvation Army, stripped of green paint and stained :-D
I'm kind of in mourning for the original dresser that you had there. But, it's your dresser. I guess. LOL.
Not thrilled with wallpaper on furniture in general, except in the background or (if well done) as an accent. To me, it just feels a little cheap and fly-by-night.
I want to cry...I don't even have the words...such beautiful walnut WALLPAPERED?!?! WHY???
It frustrates me to hear some of these complaints. I think it shows a real sense of entitlement by those people who argue that because it's a nice peice of furniture, the owner shouldn't be able to modify it.
It's as if the underlying context is "the history of this peice belongs to me in some way... and you'd best not change it, even if it's not functioning well for you. It doesn't matter if you paid for the furniture fair and square, because in the end... you're really only leasing it. And someday, when you're dead, I want to know that me or a fellow MCM lover can purchase that nice dresser, in it's original wood, at your estate sale"
Not only does this view completely disregard any rights of ownership (would you like it if someone tried to control what you do with your belongings?) it also disregards the possibility that LOTS of people would be psyched to get their hands on this fresh, colorful, updated dresser!
Nice MCM dressers might be getting harder to come by, but this updated dresser is a truly one of a kind expression. Shouldn't we celebrate that?
This dresser is awesome! I love how bold the print is - so fun!
Yikes. The original, real wood dresser was lovely. The final product is, to my taste, tacky and not at all attractive. My opinion only, obviously, but it seems a shame.
because in the end... you're really only leasing it
Actually, that is exactly what I believe about beautiful things.
Nice! I need to redo a dresser this summer. Thanks for the tips!
@studiostarter
... that probably is why those sorts of comments rub me the wrong way, beyond the "and obviously you have shitty taste!" implications.
@bennysoup
Good job on your dresser! It is not precisely to my taste (of course?); would have picked different wallpaper! :p No, actually I'm just wondering why you switched out the feet? I tend to like the tapered ones. Was it just because it's more like your inspiration piece? (Which I guess doesn't mean "just", it means that's how you like it....)
I have to say that I am one of the people that liked the before better, but I wouldn't bother to post just to say that. What I wonder, Ben, is why you used such a busy pattern when your inspiration piece is so serene. I might have thought about using a raw silk wallpaper and a pale wash on the original front, and then changing out the legs the way you did. That piece would follow your inspiration more, and you probably wouldn't get tired of it. I love pattern, but not in furniture, it doesn't wear well.
It was nice piece before, yes, but its yours! You can do what you want! And I think you did a great job. Its funky and beautiful.. Maybe you should show a picture of the piece in the context of your home so that people can see how it fits in? Thanks for posting a great DIY!
What is the reason for "Comments" if people are not allowed to express their opinions, positive or negative?
btw.
am a fan of old school basics that last forever, I think they never get boring but it certainly looks well done and out of the box.
Love it! I am not a fan of old furniture.
One word "winning"
Kudos to you for doing what you want to YOUR furniture. Maybe now it fits in with your house better...maybe it's just funky on its own. It looks great.
I love this! Before looked like something my Great Grandmother would have in her hallway, the after is modern-day bedroom worthy! Thanks for the inspiration and the great before and after pictures.
I agree with those who recommended conserving the original piece - it was (and I emphasize was) really lovely. I admire the creativity, but again as recommended above, this could have been unleashed on a cheap IKEA piece.
That must have been a sunufagun doing those corners. I can envision me breaking down and crying after the 5th attempt at perfection. So I'll just stand back and envy.
As others have stated, I don't understand the suggestion to convert a cheap IKEA piece. First of all, that would mean purchasing another piece of furniture. That doesn't seem like a very good use of resources. Second of all, that would make the end result a cheap IKEA piece... which would not be as sturdy and wouldn't look as nice.
Obviously, it's his to do with as he wishes. But if you're going to submit your B&A to a blog, you're going to get feedback, positive and negative. Why are people angry that other people are angry? This is the internet, people! That's how it works! Honestly, if I wanted a chorus of peace and love and "everybody's a winner in their own way!" I'd go to a Christian summer camp.
I prefer the Before. I don't mind the After as a stand-alone piece, but I agree it would have been a better project to execute on a dresser that had damaged veneer or had already been painted by some other nitwit. Sell the original and hit up a thrift store for a boxy dresser with no legs. There are millions of those out there. I agree that IKEA quality sucks, but I also think this particular transformation is the opposite of "timeless" so it wouldn't matter so much if the piece fell apart after a few years.
My own great grandmothers were doing their house-decorating in the 1920s, so the fact that people on here have hip MCM great-grandmothers makes me feel OLD.
dude, no...
respect all the opinions!!!
But if you care to much about stuff you have a problem,when we die (because all of us will) we're not taking anything.
So why not enjoy what we have,change the things that we don't like and stop puting a "tag" of any kind(timeless,vintage,modern,blah,blah,blah) life is too short.
So what, he used wallpaper in a piece of wood,if he likes it why do you all whine about!!!!
Congratulations on a transformation you are proud of. I admit that I don't really understand the expenditure to alter a piece that seems to have been of decent quality and condition, but that isn't for me to understand. I don't believe one has any obligation to anyone else's taste or feelings towards his or her furniture.
I'm all for wallpapering furniture. I think the idea and workmanship looks fantastic.
However for me personally I don't like the warm wood colour with the cool blue wallpaper.
Enjoy it, it's great looking at your done over piece and knowing that it's something you did.
I've done various pieces myself if you wanna have a look.
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=250710736614&id=656207580#!/pages/Once-Upon-A-Time/184777164886630
Wow! It has brought new life to the plain dresser. I like the idea.
Oh noes! RIP to the previous dresser.
Ben hats off for your craftiness, though. Did you think of using cloth instead of wallpaper?
My feeling has long been that before people can be allowed to get a facelift or any plastic surgery they should be forced to go on the show What Not To Wear. Many people go on that show feeling horrible about their bodies leave the show with newfound confidence about their bodies.
I feel like AT should have a feature showing people how they could re-invigorate a piece without completely ruining its integrity or value (where are Leslie and Leigh Keno when you need 'em?). Also whoever had an idea for adding an auction feature would be great. A poster could present their craft idea and if someone really wanted the item, the poster could decide if they really wanted to go ahead with the overhaul or if they wanted the cold hard cash.
Some people need frequent change - and it's certainly not drab now, so he accomplished his goal. It looks like a migraine headache trigger to me, but I don't have to look at it again. The trouble with fresh approaches is that they don't last & have to be refreshed. I expect it won't be long before the dresser gets another redo.
Not to sound like a broken record, but I have to agree with all the folks who liked the before better. It was such a beautiful original piece. I'm all for repurposing old pieces but I feel like the inherent beauty of the piece should always be brought out if you're going to do that, and I'm not sure if that happened here.
I'm sorry. I appreciate your effort and I am not above painting furniture or reworking it to suit your own taste, but seriously...how long is this going to be your taste? It's awful. Way too busy.
I'm a purist on most cases, and doing anything this drastic on a hardwood piece seems just a little bit like crime to me.
On the other hand, as someone mentioned already.... This piece is yours and you can do with it what you please.
Anything decal or adhesive paper or in this case, wallpaper is a no-no for me.
If you would have taken this same wallpaper pattern and painted it on your piece... It would have taken it to Awesomeness heaven!!!!! The pattern of the wall paper is really cool.....
If you have extra time in the future consider painting the same pattern on the piece... It will make it take the leap from Wallmart to Kartell!
The before was a nice piece of furniture, but I can understand being tired of it and Ben wanting to make it more suited to his taste. It was kind of grandmotherly and it was a job well-done and it works for him. I agree with the person who said that we shouldn't just redo cheap furniture from IKEA. Well-done, Ben.
this makes no sense. you cut off the original base and legs, papered over the body and veneered over the drawer fronts... why use this piece just as a box? now it looks like you used an old particle board dresser as the starting point. sad.
I have to agree with mayacb - what made you stray from your inspiration and choose wallpaper over paint? The Douglas fir veneer looks great, mind you.
Dresser-$200, Wallpaper-$100+/-, Wood veneer-$50, Custom base-guessing another $100, plus your time. You now have lets say a $500 dresser that you could maybe sell for $40! That's the real reason people are freaked out.
Ben is a class act, as evidenced by his comment.
OH NO! This makes me wanna cry! It's an absolute crime to do that to that beautiful Mid-Century piece.
I think this looks great. I also think it seems to be a waste, but not because of the "oh so glorious piece!" beneath. I have absolutely no love lost on MCM furniture- and am SOOO tired of seeing them here anyway. I do have to agree that it seems the time and expense that went into the refurbishing outweighs the final value of the piece. Based on the breakdown that "thewipf" gave above, that's now a $500 dresser that looks no different than a $69 version from the ubiquitous Ikea with a little resurfacing. At the point that you're applying wood veneer to the front of a solid wood piece, you really could've gotten a basic 5 drawer dresser from Walmart with the veneer color already applied. And let's be for real. With normal use, the Target/Ikea/Walmart furniture we all "detest" certainly serves its purpose for YEARS in many households, without any issues or complaints. And nothing covered in wood veneer is destined to be a family heirloom, anyway. So now this piece really is no different than its lamer counterparts.
My faces during this post:
:)
>:|
D;<
the wallpaper made me stare for a few minutes... *stare.. stare.... ..stare* so captivating. woww.. =) *still trapped by it's good look*
Ben, you are certainly crafty and executed your plan well. Kudos to your skills.
But I have to be honest - this makeover bums me out like no other. It feels like the furniture equivalent of tearing down a well-built ranch to replace it with a garish, new-construction.
my only comment is, I had no idea there were so many IKEA haters.
Wouldn't have done this to the piece, myself... but Ben, you deserve props for impeccable execution.
What a travesty. Another needless destruction in the name of bad taste. And yes, there is an issue of preservation at this point of MCM. It is much greener to preserve the original than to go this route, and please, even if you don't like the original, have some respect.
Also, not to beat a dead horse, but this is Claro Walnut which is virtually non-existent these days, and that 'bracket' you so happily sawed off, is in fact an apron, built on to help maintain the structural integrity of the piece, not to mention the beauty of the form. Sorry, but I restore MCM for a living and see way too much of this sort of thing.
I'm with the heartbroken crowd. I have to say the veneer drawer fronts are the most galling part.
It's your furniture, obviously you can do what you want with it. But people get sad when beautiful things are destroyed (and yes, I think this counts as destroyed). If a private collector torched his Picasso because he got bored with it, we'd be upset, wouldn't we?
The word 'personal' in the term personalization exists because it is exactly that. Kudos to the creative re-do on a super classic piece. To each there own...but them again I respect the classics but will be one of the 1st to try and change it for fun.
It was HIS dresser. He has a right to wallpaper it or paint it if he wants. It was a beautiful dresser and I myself have been looking for one like that for a few months (not as easy to find here in the south as on the other two coasts) but alas, it's HIS dresser. Get off the MCM high horse people. He didn't wallpaper a signed one-of-a-kind designer's case study model.
Another vote for "preferred the before". It's his furniture and he has a right to do what he'd like with it, but I like the simplicity of the original piece. The new dresser is very busy and I would get tired of it quickly. To each their own!
Way to go - From Vintage Chic to IKEA cheap...
Appalling.
When I saw the 'before', I wondered why anyone would want to change the look of it, finding it to be gorgeous as is. Scrolling down to the 'after', I am happily surprised - it's wonderful, LOVE it!
Sad for the original, sorry to see such pretty wood covered.
i truly love how this project has garned so much attention. and i love the fact that so many people have expressed their disdain for the reno but have commended ben on HIS mission/project. it may not be right for you, but it's right for him. and i, too, am not liking the the reno but i commend him for taking on a project to fit his style.
Not my style, and I could never have done this to the original, but guess what? Not my dresser, either. Glad you found a way to keep this dresser working for your space.
As for the MCM furniture restorer, the complaint seems a bit short-sighted to me. Isn't this the kind of thing that keeps her in business, anyway?
love the creativity but the before was fabulous - maybe a needier piece of furniture would have been better. BUT love the creativity!
The wood grain on the original drawer fronts was interesting and beautiful.
I'm a little sad that this was done to a perfectly good looking piece of vintage furniture. I would have chosen a piece of something that wasn't as nice or as valuable to do this sort of project. To be honest, I'm more of a fan of restoring furniture to its former glory rather than painting or wallpapering it.
Oh, those legs...looking at the new ones is heartbreaking! I hope you saved them- I'm sure you could find use for those legs elsewhere.
Very interesting concept and very well executed. I must say, I have been looking for a dresser exactly like the original to match my bedroom chest (which is almost identical to this) and seeing it turned into someone else's dream made me jealous! But the look you created looks very nice.
when I inherit the mona lisa, I'm going to give her a bob... she'll look so cute, and with a big smile. ( due to the horizontal lines )
ben meet bob...
mona meet moaner's.
what's old is new again...
it may even be in a museum some day as what happened to furniture?
lol@clutterbuggy
yeah i don't know why people feel the need to just sit at their computer and harp about the sanctity of antique furniture (i love antique furniture too). i ended up making a formal request in one of my posts comments: all the jerks that told me i was a selfish person for wanting to change this old, beat up cabinet into something more functional could take it off my terrible hands for $400. no takers :)
the dressers looks great, even if it's not something i would personally do.
Great job Ben!!! I am sure it entailed a lot of patience as well (so kudos to you!!!). Thanks for sharing ur hard work in transforming the dresser and inspiring us to be able to see beauty in however we choose to define it.
I would have been scared that the wallpaper would peel away from the edges, but Ben did a great job of making this look sturdy and durable. Very cleanly done.
I'm so sorry, but everything about this 'after' is horrible! good grief...