As Connie admits, this dresser put the UG in ugly in its original state. In fact, she was a little embarrassed to even admit she was buying it at a Goodwill store. After a hefty dose of elbow grease and sweat equity, Connie gave the dresser an unbelievable makeover…
As Connie says on her blog, Salvage Savvy, I promise that if you find a DIY project that excites you, [enough to actually do it] that piece of furniture, art, etc. will become one of your favorites. You'll never go back... when your friends tell you how adorable your accent table is, and you get to say that you found it for $10 and paid another $10 to fix up... those words become addictive. This dresser makeover is definitely one of those pieces that friends will rave about.
The new paint colors are very playful and lend a modern vibe to the vintage piece. That Connie was able to salvage the original hardware by repainting them with the same silver as the edges of the dresser is a wonderful touch. It would be a shame to lose such funky drawer pulls.
Check out the full details on Connie's blog — Salvage Savvy: How to Paint a Dresser.
Images: Style Savvy
Ellen's Thirties Style Small Space
Juan's Garage Turned Modern Guest House
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Commercial Flour Sa...
10 Picnic-Ready Salads to Eat Outside
Recipe: Thai Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry
Looks great! The old thing was trashed but you gave it some glamour!
Looks awesome!! Though...the legs could have used an update.
I am so glad the knobs were saved. They are out of this world. Lovely job!
^ The legs are my favorite part.
Looks great, although I would've went with a stripped down look. Sand & wax for the wood and chemically strip the legs and pulls
good job!
I almost always prefer natural wood to painted, but this is wonderful. Who knew the handles would look like that??? Fabulous! And twenty bucks!!!
Totally AMAZING. Great job. Love it.
Beautiful makeover. I would have bought the dresser just for the trendy pulls.
This. Is. Great!
Wow. What satisfaction!
Great! I'm so impressed! Seriously awesome! Agh, I can't stop typing!
Love, love, love. Makes me smile to look at it!
Perfect!
Now *THIS* i like! Those legs are the whip! Love the pulls too, the silver rocks. Yay team!
very nice job!! but it def had good bones in the before. the legs and the pulls are awesome.
I love the legs and drawer pulls!!
Wonderful! I'm jealous!
I'm Jealous beyond repair!
Wow!! I'll say it again...Wow!!
This is beautiful, I love the new stainless look of the legs and that you kept those unique pulls.
Fabulous job. I bet this was an expensive piece when it was new, and now it's priceless! Those handles are terrific. And I love blue painted furniture. This makes my heart zing!
I have to add to the gushing - this is really fantastic!
wow. just wow!
Gorgeous vintage find! So glad you salvaged it. Beautifully done. Enjoy.
WOW! I couldn't even tell how cool those drawer pulls were in the first image! They are fabulous!
This whole re-do is so spectacular! It's amazing what you can do with just a little elbow grease and the creative spark! Very cool!
Awe-some! One of the best I've seen in a while, and I browse the "before-and-after everywhere I can :-). fantastic job!
I am not normally a fan of painting such (once) handsome vintage pieces, but I do like how this one turned out.
I think I'd have paid $10 just for the pulls as well!
I think she should have gone glossy on the blue, but good job.
its fabulous! good eye!!
I love it. The pulls are fantastic, the blue is beautiful and the legs are fun, fun, fun.
Those drawer pulls are to die for!
Oh, I am SO GLAD she was able to save the hardware! Talk about a show-stopper! Wonderful work. :)
LOVE those handles, and i like the legs too.. that is something you don't see everyday. good save beautiful update.
Dang, I need this exact piece.
Just WOW.
Look at AT, delivering hardcore on the Before and Afters! Keep em coming!
Handles are A-maz-ing and the blue is just right. Fabuloso makeover. Well done.
For just a second I thought that you were going to throw out those beautiful pulls... I am so glad you saved them! They look amazing!
Based on some of the pictures on her blog, I get the impression that she has access to a fair amount of cash. Whenever I hear of people like that shopping at Goodwill, it just makes me shake my head.
That's like me going to a soup kitchen for a free dinner.
Great job & good for you for seeing the potential. I love those pulls, wow!
@barton - her blog is about taking things & cheaply making them look fabulous, looks like it worked since you think she's rich.
Great bones, I LOVE the pulls. I think gloss would have been too much on this piece, personally. Excellent as it is. I would have snatched it up, too...well, except that we have no space or need, lol! We're currently 'on hiatus' for swapping out furniture.
Wowee! I'm old and I've been poking around in thrift shops and at auctions for my entire life and I have never seen drawer pulls like those.
Now I know that I have something left to live for. (haha)
People with money can't shop at Goodwill now? Please stop judging how people spend their money. It's none of your business. Besides, you can't HAVE money if you spend it all!
amazing job, love the paint choice and those pulls!
I would have spent the money just for the legs! Sweetness!
Beautifully done! Great find and a great eye.
Why is she embarrassed to buy something at Goodwill?!
Great job - love it.
Have to admit, half of my furniture I picked up from the streets and DIY it! Love the character and personal touch!!!
Little known fact: Goodwill is not just a place to buy cheap stuff. It is a charity that "provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges." - Stole that sentence straight from their description.
They are FUNDED BY their network of stores of donated goods.
When you buy from Goodwill, whether you are rich or a pauper, your money is going towards an uplifting charity that helps people. That's the point, not just having stores with cheap goods.
stunning! my favorite before and after!
Talk about bringing a piece of furniture back to life! I love that you kept everything but really revived it with color. It looks like something you could buy in a high end shop.
This is amazing!! I absolutely adore those drawer pulls - definitely worth the $10 just for those! The silver and blue looks great, too. Not a huge fan of the legs, but it looks like others love them, so I guess that's just personal preference.
Again, great find and awesome DIY!
The drawer pulls are wonderful. So graphic. Great job overall.
Yay! I love the drawer pulls and the legs. You did a great job making them look wonderful with the paint.
I loved great painted dresser & that is a great painted dresser. Knobs & feet totally key! Fantastic make over. Congrats!
So impressive! I always admire people who have such vision. Beautiful result!!
I love the drawer pulls.. they are wicked!
This is rad. You could sell that baby for a lot of money.
wonderful! I love the legs and the pulls - glad you kept them!
@besquirrely
In spite of the information about Goodwill being in that sentence, from the context I think the writer merely meant that she was embarrassed to be buying it at all because it was so ugly.
LOVE! one of the best before and afters I've seen in quite a while.
also, I have to say that I very much like the arrangement of objects on top and the wall color. nice coordination!
Well said, @Kaete. And well played indeed, Connie! Verra, verra nahce...
The classic Wedgwood color scheme was a stroke of brilliance. I'm so glad she knew the drawer pulls were art and kept them
Oh wow. This may be my favorite thing I've seen to date on AT. Well done!
just, WOW!!!
Fantastic makeover, legs, drawer pulls colro, love it all. What's the name of the blue paint color you used??
Very, very pretty. I love the pulls - the before doesn't even hint at how wonderful they are.
It's perfect. For anyone who likes Goodwill prices, check out Goodwill Outlet stores.
good job, it looks great!
Normally I click through on these things with my breath held waiting to see what kind of horrors were inflicted on poor defenseless pieces of furniture. But this looks really nice.
You did an excellent job and gave that sad old dresser a new life!
A beautiful job! Love the choice of color and polished chrome/silver finishes.
WOW! That's all. :)
Great knobs! Great job!
Wow! Looks amazing!
LOVE the pulls.
No argument from me, this looks fantastic!
If furniture could speak, that dresser would thank you especially for keeping the pulls and really making it a nice show piece.
What is the top made out of? It looks like you changed that too.
Soooooo pretty!!!!
I love it!
I'm very curious what might have been done without painting over the wood.
I kind of wished she hadn't painted it. Strip, sand, stain. Which is a hella work, I realize. It looks like its a nice solid piece
This is a painted dresser re-do that I can support. Looks great!
The drawer pulls are absolutely fantastic!
LOVE the drawer pulls. Has anyone seen any modern pulls that look similar?
If so, they probably would've been linked 50 times in here already, but they look so awesome I still have to ask! The rest of the redo is great; I just can't get over OMG PULLS.
Looks great, and I like the legs. Goes with the feel of the dresser!
And Barton, even people who have money to spend on furniture might have other things that are their priorities. Your comment is like saying rich people shouldn't buy clothes on sale.
What an amazing find. The pulls come out to dollar a piece! I enjoy the color combo very much. It does resemble melamine after a while. Stained wood probably has a more enduring look, after all.
Beautiful! I wish I could muster up the same ambition to tackle my DIY projects!
Wow. Just wow.
I must confess I completely missed the potential and would probably have dumped the pulls!! *Hangs head sheepishly*
Yep. Rage, rage, rage. You did a bang up job.
Beautiful! All I can do is drool in jealousy.
I would have bought that piece for no other reason EXCEPT for the pulls- they're fabulous! What a beautiful makeover- totally jealous.
This is so beautiful!!! That's the first thing I noticed when I saw the before picture was the hardware, so unique! As I scrolled down to see the after of course I was wondering what's the after going to look like?! I was stunned! It's one of kind!
What great drawer pulls -- made even better by spray painting them in a contrasting color like you've done. Fantastic!
GREAT JOB :)
Love Love Love
Stunning! I just bought a dresser from Goodwill and I want to do exactly what you did! So two primers....question about the Behr Paint & Primer in One. What is the color? Thanks!
Thanks Angela :) I just saw your question- the paint color is called Gabardine and it's from the Martha Stewart Living Collection.
SO GLAD YOU KEPT THE ORIGINAL HARDWARE INCLUDING THE FEET/LEGS. WONDERFULLY DONE. THIS WOULD GO PERFECTLY IN MY BEDROOM. HINT, HINT!! LOL.
SIMPLY LOVELY!