This dresser is a telling reminder that DIY efforts to improve older furniture are nothing new — though viewing this wallpaper application as an improvement may be a stretch! Despite the poor finish, the waterfall dresser itself is a solid piece, one Sarah knew deserved a makeover.
Sarah stripped off the green patterned wallpaper only to discover thick layers of paint underneath. With the paint removed, the veneer was revealed; Sarah had to break out the iron to remove all the damaged veneer on the base of the dresser and then use wood filler to create a smooth surface. The base was painted using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite and then treated with both clear and dark waxes. Sarah was able to save the beautiful wood grain on the drawer fronts, staining them with Minwax Dark Walnut after all the paint was removed.
Looking at the lovely patterns in the wood, it is hard to imagine anyone covering them with that green wallpaper in the past; thankfully Sarah was able to reveal the beauty beneath that long ago DIY decision!
See more: Imperfect Patina: Waterfall Dresser
(Images: Sarah/Imperfect Patina)
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Oh. My gracious. What a lovely piece. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you.
Oh, but... question about the original hardware. Were those pulls wood, or Bakelite? If the latter, I hope you saved them! They'll come in handy for something down the road, if only to be sold to me.
And again--just. Wow.
I've never seen such large furniture pulls in bakelite--I'll bet that they were wood.
My. goodness. Such an amazing job! Good work, Sarah!
Congratulations Sarah. You did a wonderful job.
I dunno about anyone else, but I am definitely feeling smugly superior to a hideous green wallpaper loving person from the past.
What a difference. All that hard work really paid off.
I love the painted wood look, but the more I research it, I am finding examples of great pieces with lovely wood grain patters PAINTED OVER! I know there is "it's yours, do what you want" school of thought here, but I am so glad to see a few pieces acknowledge that not all wood needs to be covered and made neutral! Not all old wood needs to be covered to be new and fresh!
*patterns. Ugh.
To be fair, the dresser probably looked a lot better when the paper and paint job were in good condition. Still, that is some hardcore beauty in the after.
Yeah, the veneers look great. Bummer about the pulls.
I cannot imagine the patience required to do all this but clearly, it was worth it. And again, I LOVE the "double-breasted" look of using knobs where long handles used to be. Congratulations, Sarah; and thank you so much for sharing, AT!
Can I be a Negative Nelly and say, even though the newly uncovered woodgrain is beautiful (and undoubtedly a ton of work).... I still think this dresser as a whole is kind of ugly? Obviously it's nicer than the "before" but... yeah. Not feeling that grey paint or the drawer pulls. Maybe if I saw it set in a room where it looked great in it's context it would make more sense.
It is great to see some projects here that undo some of the projects here.
The woodgrain recovery was a hit!
But, I kind of agree with @Miss.Waverly, the overall piece of furniture isn't one I would be interested in.
It must have been a nice surprise to uncover the lovely veneer pattern on the drawer fronts. I like that this piece combines paint and refinished wood as the condition of the different parts allow or require.
Very nice job Sarah...I have two old art deco dressers that need fixing and this is definitely inspiring me to want make them look beautiful again.
I actually like the pattern of that wallpaper, not to cover walls though and certainly not on the dresser. But I'm amazed at the pattern that was underneath. What a pleasant surprise!
Very nice save there!
But the wallpaper was not covering up the wood veneer, but thick layers of paint. And it could have been very well done at some point. At least the pattern seemed to have been applied evenly....
Excellent! Back to its original beauty :)
I have an old sewing cabinet with almost original identical pulls...they are wood and not Bakelite.
This is remarkable!
Love the piece and its transformation, but I'm not crazy about the grey (?) paint - I got excited thinking it was (somehow) chrome.
Beautiful, I want!
Sadly, I agree with Miss.Waverly. I'm impressed with the amount of work it took to unearth that veneer but I'm not liking the paint with the wood and the pulls with the wood.
Beautiful job restoring the old veneer.
This was probably painted and papered for some little girl's room by her mom who couldn't afford to buy something new and pretty. She did her best with an old dresser that was probably scuffed and scratched and not at all what a little girl would want.
That's one way that old furniture gets painted and I bet everyone here can understand that.