I like the stain but I don't like the paint as much. I liked the white, actually. I think I would have painted the entire thing a bright color.

@PI @Roberto, you're kidding me right? That cheap tacky white paint and the big red knobs are better?

Wow - a nice compromise between wood and paint. I like it.

I also like the before better.
The gray drawers look kind of out of place. I think it would have been better if she stained the whole thing or repainted the chest. Hopefully it looks better in person.

I like it. But the gray drawer fronts don't really work. I would decoupage a floral William Morris type print onto the front.

The stained part looks great and now no more worries about chipped veneer. Not a fan of the paint myself but I could picture the drawer fronts in a lighter stain if they were in good enough shape to take it. I gave up on staining a similar dresser that had fairly ugly wood with a lot of flaws once the many layers of paint and a faux wood finish that looked like tiger maple were removed. A friend replaced the top on another one with marble after discovering a ruined veneer. Luckily the base on hers was good quality and in great shape.

Would have done another coat of white and changed the knobs - Resto has some great ones. The after doesn't work.

Oh, the comments! Always, people like the before better or have different personal taste than the re-finisher. I would think many times over before submitting to this group.

I love the after- it is so my taste and looks woodsy and charming to my eye.

somethings are better left alone.

That must have been a lot of work! I love the wood, though I am not sure about the gray drawers. I like it a lot better than the before though.

I like it. Looks like it is well done and the paint adds something to me rather than just staining the whole thing. Drastically better than the before. Looks way more expensive now.

i love this! looks great!

Nice clean result!

I think it looks great.

I can't say it's my particular taste but I think it's extremely well done. You can see the little 'key' holes now.
Really nice job.

@ATARICHILD - How can one even tell that the white paint is cheap or tacky? Maybe you just don't like white furniture? I would have painted it something bright, like I said in my post. It doesn't mean the white isn't a nice color. It is, just not with those red knobs...not that I said anything about the red knobs. I simply prefer the white to the gray drawers and prefer a bolder (non-white) color to either alternative.

I like the wood, not so much the dusty blue on the sides. The drawers look ok.

Oh, and it's about time you had a before/after piece AT. You've been seriously lacking these of late.

Wow, to my eye this is ten million times better than before. It's like the wood can breathe a sigh of relief - and I join it!

a la craigslist ancient-basement photography i see; it might actually be a beautiful piece, but the lighting will never reveal that.

I am not a big fan of this style (I would go with white paint or bright colors) however, I think this is wonderfully done and I know a few people who would be jealous of it :)

The colors are certainly not to my taste but it's really well done; I'd have painted it a bright color, but then, it's not my dresser, and Sarah is clearly happy with it, so, win!

If the owner is happy, that's the big thing.

I would look at that piece, not be happy with the lines of the furniture, know from my flea marketing experience over the years that this most likely would be veneered, so to me, not worth the effort of trying to restore it. Now if it were a Mission Style piece that would probably be solid oak and have lines more in keeping with my decor, that's another story...

That must have taken a ton of work. I think the wood looks gorgeous. I'm not a fan of the paint but I admire the owner for having seen this project through. I've given up on far easier re-dos than this!

Bravo on the stripping the paint - it is a lot of work! I can't help but prefer the before though - it's brighter. Like others have said, in need of a better paint job and less obnoxious knobs.

I actually like the wood with that paint color but it looks unfinished. If you're going to paint the drawers, why not paint the small ones on top too? I think it would have looked more complete and balanced. At the very least put knobs on the top drawers. It doesn't look like there are any.

I love the shape of the dresser and commend the new owner for her efforts in removing the veneer. However, I'm uncertain if I like the results of the restoration because of the quality of the photograph and the reflection caused by the flash on the top drawers is too distracting. I'd love to see the dresser photographed under natural light.

I like the colour, it really compliments the stain. IMO if you're going to paint the drawers then paint them all, or none. The painted sides I'm not crazy about, but damn the work she did on the top surface was worth it!

No I dont think so. Pics must have been switched. LMAO

I'm with Bee T. - I'm be afraid to submit to AT because it feels like over half of the comments folks post are to say how they don't like it. I understand that we're a group of very creative-minded people, which means we have very personalized tastes... but let's try to be more positive, shall we?

If the dresser isn't to your taste, that's fine, and you're free to say so, but I just keep seeing DIY posts that have been getting slammed. After the hard work that was put into this dresser, and knowing that the owner wouldn't have submitted it if she wasn't happy with and proud of it, try to keep things kind and constructive for these folks who are kind enough to submit themselves to our scrutiny!

I like them both. The white, with or without red knobs, would work in some situations. I also like the stained and grey drawer transformation. I also like what Sweet Virginia said. Sometime I see things that are actually to my taste, in that I like the way they look, but I wouldn't/don't have a place for them in my house. Which applies to both versions of this chest.

Before, sorry!

I think it looks nice, and that was ALOT of work to get it back to the wood- applause for that alone. These comments make me laugh- when someone paints wood, they committed a crime, and when someone goes to all the hard work of trying to restore wood- people think you should have painted it. To each their own :)

Nice effort, but the gray drawers seem to be saying "Apropos of nothing ... gray!"

Every time some sends in wooden drawers that have been painted, the comments go nuts with people screaming about painting over perfectly good wood, then someone actually strips the piece back and suddenly a white dresser is the best thing since sliced bread, lol.

yikes

Is country coming back?

I don't think colors match, should try contrary colors from the color wheel.