Imagine it: you're walking along one day when you come across a sad old dresser, all beat up and covered with stickers, sitting on the curbside. Many of us would see nothing more than an old relic awaiting its trip to the garbage heap. Liz saw a dresser with good bones that needed to be rescued from its dismal fate.
I was photographing Liz's coach house for a future house tour when she pointed at the dresser and casually mentioned that she had rehabbed it after finding it in the garbage. Oh, I said, you must send me the before photos! Little did I know just how much rehabbing she had done! I'll let Liz tell the story:
"Spotted on the curbside in my old neighborhood. I saw potential in this wooden beauty. Beneath it's animal stickers, low profile, and handle-less drawers, I knew I had found my newest bedroom addition. To begin the transformation, I sanded all the drawers and body of old paint and stickers. Before I started painting I wiped all the pieces separately with tack cloth (very important step) to remove all the dust particles left over from sanding. I painted 3 coats of oil based paint and in between each coat wiped everything down again with tack cloth. To finish it off I applied 2 coats of semi gloss polyurethane for added protection. As an final step I took a medium grain sand paper and distressed the edges and corners to get that worn in finish. In addition to the finishing I added handles and knobs found at Home Depot and scoured ebay to find the legs I wanted to add more height. This entire DIY took lots of patience and about 2 months of weekends working out of my parents garage."
Eagle eyed readers will also notice that Liz changed out the legs on the dresser, going from a simple straight legs to something with a sexier shape that she found on ebay.
Images: Elizabeth Villacorta
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Gorgeous work (save for the distressing... not a fan) and great save.
lover her work! Could any one please explain the importance of tack cloth? Thanks!
I agree with Modestalmond, love the white, but don't care for the distressing.
I guess it's hard to tell without seeing her other furniture. Can't wait to see the tour.
Very nice... I don't mind the distressing because its very slight, not overdone & obviously intentional.
Absolutely beautiful! I'm curious - what did you look for on ebay when searching for the legs?
I love the hardware and the legs. so beautiful!
Looks good, but best of all it was kept out of a landfill. Kudos to every single AT post like this one that encouragres a little bit of vision and elbow grease. A dresser like this beats anything at Ikea, Target, CB2, West Elm, Pottery Barn, etc..every single time. Well done!
My roomie and I found an old sewing table on the side of the road and want to do something simillar. I am a fan of the distressing because it is very minimal. THe legs are also a nice touch!
Tash, a Tack cloth is a sticky cloth used to remove sawdust and debris from a piece before painting or finishing. This provides a smoother more even finish.
... isn't it (very pale) gray?
I think I preferred the old tapered legs (and I guess I'll just have to take her word for them being shorter than the new ones), but it's all good! I wonder if she kept them for another project? I also find those lego-shaped protrusions between the drawers very mysterious... what are they?
e.r.h.---one route is go to antique furniture and look for a sections called "parts and salvage".
@e.r.h.
I'm not sure why she went on ebay for the feet (or maybe she didn't specifically, but that was where she found them), however "bun foot" (+"furniture", "sofa", whatever) on google will turn up results like this, easily.
... wait, that is the floor in her bedroom? o.O That's... unusual. Well, looking forward to the tour.
BTW, just wanted to say that I really enjoy it when the individual shots are annotated (i.e. "this is a dresser homeowner found on the side of the road and refinished", "this is a painting she made", "she got this thing in Italy", etc). From your last couple of tours, it doesn't seem like you are in the habit of doing this, but if you were ever considering it, at least one person would appreciate your efforts!
Purty.
beautiful! i am a fan of distressing so this is perfect for me. I love it. well done!
Not a fan of distressing, but I love a good furniture rescue. This one is great; love the color and the new legs.
Hmm, I was thinking "yay tackcloth, smooth shiny paint instead of this shabby chic nonsense"... and then she distressed it. If you're going to distress it I don't think it matters if your paint isn't perfect.
I have a dumb question. I really like this redo (but I like shabby chic, in small doses... and minus the pink cabbage roses...) but if what the intended effect was, was distressed - why sand all the paint off, and then laboriously multi-coat, then sand? Why not just remove the stickers with rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover, scrub down the drawer fronts and sand enough to give paint something to stick to, and then add a coat in your favourite shade of cream/white/bone to cover the sticker-scars?
Seems like a lot of extra work.
But I do love the new hardware and new legs. I like the LOOK, I'm just questioning the sanding and layers and layers of oil paint (and polyurethane) and tack-cloth as far as being labourious for not much increased pay-off.
It's cute though! She's just less lazy than I am, maybe.
Beautiful! I love the fresh white, the hardware, and the legs. Way to go!!
Agree about the "lot of extra work." Guessing she's a perfectionist ;) I think, this is the best rehab via paint job I've seen on AT. Cool floor!
Beautiful.
I really like the legs. I think they go so much better with the other carvings than the originals do. The finished product has so much sophisticated charm.
On the other hand, I have to agree with JosieDaisy -- not sure why you'd spend the extra time on the finish if you want a distressed look.
Eh... I am not a fan of shabby chic, but especially in the manufactured case, I suppose one finds the appearance desirable but doesn't want the paintjob to feel lumpy?
Fab !
Not a fan of the legs, but I did see some just like them at Lowes.
I like the new legs - they give the piece more heft. But I wonder about the weird detailing in the edges between the drawers. What are those things? They look like pieces of Lego.
Very nice. The distressing seems very minimal. I love the color and the hardware - great to see a throwaway turned into an attractive, useful piece.
I think "legos" might be some locking mechanism to prevent opening the drawers by little kids (of course, I may be totally wrong)
Don't like shabby chic and distressing, but I'm a huge fan of salvaging old furniture, so big like from me
after all that hard work the distressing is a HUGE bummer. I also prefer the old legs. the hardware is nice though.
I just have to share - my brother put a very similar set of stickers all over his bedroom dresser when he was younger! Nice to see an old memory today, thanks AT.
love the new legs!
Wow impressive!
Fabulous makeover! The new legs are cute. And her styling of the piece is so pretty.
I love it. I think it looks beautiful and the legs are fantastic!
Great job and I am glad to see that I am not the only one that takes so long to finish a project like this.
I like the Michelin Man legs.
Thanks for all your comments! AT readers leave the best of 'em :)
I don't remember what store I bought these legs from on ebay, but I knew I wanted ones with more of a rounded shape and ones that would bring more height to the dresser.
I think a contrasting hardware would have really made this pop- perhaps a gold?
http://www.mintlovesocialclub.com/2011/02/credenza-makeover-part-one.html