Yesterday we saw an amazing furniture transformation that involved wallpapering the frame of a mid-century dresser. Today we found a similar project that was done in reverse — the drawers of this dresser were covered with a cheerful spring pattern.
We spotted this dresser makeover on Bemz Blog, who picked it up from Swedish newspaper UNT. To get the look, designers painted the exterior frame pale yellow and the inside of drawers bubblegum pink. The drawers were then wallpapered using paste and sealed using a clear varnish — try Mod Podge for the same effect.
It's a smart way to update a dresser on the cheap, particularly if you have leftover patterned scraps you're trying to make use of, or if you want to splurge on a small roll of high-end wallpaper.
MORE INFORMATION
• Design-It-Yourself: Chest of drawers... Again | Bemz Blog
• Så här låter du möblerna blomma | UNT
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That's adorable but I find myself really wanting that chair in the after picture. Looks comfy.
Uh oh! I'm bracing myself for the wood-lovers!
I have a mid-century dresser I got for about $25 at a thrift store. I love the shape, the quality of construction, and the hardware, but it's covered in a thin and damaged veneer. I think in cases such as that, it's no big deal to cover up the wood with something that would make you smile like this and get more use out of the piece.
The difference between this MCM dresser and the previous one is that the wood (or is it veneer?) is damaged...which is totally worth wallpapering! It looks great.
Love!
I hated yesterday's, but that was because the wallpaper wasn't my style and the 'before' version looked so nice. This one didn't look like it was in very good shape, and I really love the paper.
Not crazy about either project, but this one is much better than yesterday's, agreed.
I like the smiley face drawer pulls. I'm glad they were re-used!
I also associated the pulls with a face! Except I saw them as blinking eyes :)
I wish the pictures were reversed, a smaller pic of Before, a bigger pic of After.
Very cute! and I am digging the chair, too. I can imagine sinking into it with a book or a mag and reading for hours.
Very cute! All these before & afters are inspiring me! I've got an old painted dresser sitting in the basement that just might get a second life...
I like this a lot. (Didn't like yesterday's.)
I'm with instantphoebe - this is a piece of veneered chipboard crap, so wallpapering it is a vast improvement. Yesterday's piece was already attractive, and the makeover only made it look a little better.
Why make a nice piece of furniture look slighter nicer when you could make a terrible piece of furniture look much nicer?
I wonder how the general reaction would have been if these B&As had been presented in reverse....
I love the lightness and airiness of the new look! And considering the sad state of the before--a big "wow" :)
In the process of doing this to my pitiful fourth-hand dresser (poor thing). Just have to find some wallpaper that I can't live without!
Why not replace the veneer? If you want to wallpaper something, you might as well do it with something from Ikea.
I think it looks gorgeous, but the thought of matching up the pattern makes me eyes cross!
@Blandwagon: "...piece of veneered chipboard crap..."
That was gorgeous quartered African mahogany, with an unfortunate chip that I could have repaired quite passably and easily.
If you want to do some trendy flavor-of-the-month crap like this, do it to some disposable Ikea chest, but don't ruin some lovely piece of Regency-revival cabinetry for something you'll be sick of and want to toss to the curb in two years.
the veneer looks pretty crappy(?) so I applaud the effort. the end result is ok. (unlike that horrific blue/gray/white geometric disaster that utterly destroyed a decent piece of furniture. ben?)
She covered up that sweet keyhole!