apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

What a beautiful job! Would you please share more about soygel, how easy it was to use (or not), and whether it's low-fume/ low toxicity (I'm pregnant but would love to tackle some similar projects). I would personally recommend staining the feet dark. The brighter color would draw attention to the floor level, and any dustbunnies that snuck in while you weren't looking. Thanks for sharing!

I second the request for info on soygel - I have some furniture I want to refinish, but like you I live in a small apt. with no real "outdoor" area for painting.

I agree with dark legs -- and I know why she likes that dresser. I see two smiley faces!

What a wonderful transformation! I'd stain the legs. The handles stand on their own, and I think more glitz might put the look over the edge.

Gorgeous! Nice work. I've never heard of SoyGel before, what is it?

GAW-GiOUS! :) i love it....i just dont have the courage enough to tackle something like this myself, and for that reason I have passed up some amazing prices for amazing pieces on craigslist. (that really just needed a good staining)....sigh. maybe one day i'll grow the nads to do this for myself.

Amazing job! love it!

Very glam. Great job!

What is soygel, and how does it work?

this dresser is almost EXACTLY like the set i inherited from my grandmother and have been debating on keeping and refinishing or shipping it up to my parents- after seeing your work i think i might take on the first, i'd love to hear more about the soygel and on a scale- how big of a pain was it to strip the old finish?

Why don't you just Google SoyGel? Duh!

Here's a SoyGel link. It's not cheap, but one user said she stripped a table...in the kitchen...stop/start...no fumes...she loved it.

http://www.realmilkpaint.com/soygel.html

Looks awesome! And I'm gonna vote on painting the legs the same color as the handles. I just think it'll make them pop!

really cute...i personally liked it better before though...haha...great work on taking on a project to make it fit in your space though.

BlueLM - I don't know that you would want to use it, as on the website it has a warning about potentially causing birth defects and other reproductive harm.

A great transformation on the dresser, and I would agree with the others who suggested staining the legs dark.

Congratulations! What a fantastic transformation.

If it's really easy, do 1 front leg in the stain and the other to match the handles-you'll only need to redo 1 when you decide which you like best. I like matching the handles-the piece is pretty dark and heavy (but pretty!). The shine will 'lift' the piece visually.

Gorgeous! What a transformation.

I asked my local green building supply store about SoyGel awhile back and they said they refused to carry it. According to them, it's just a run-of-the-mill solvent with soy added to it--an unfortunate case of "greenwashing." They said there's no truly green furniture stripper (short of sanding).

Oh, yeah. I also vote for dark legs!

Hi everyone--thanks for the positive comments! (I was a bit nervous...AT people can get critical sometimes!!!)

The soygel was great. It's from Franmar chemical and is made from soybeans. It's low fume (they claim it's no-fume, but you can definitely smell something). It cost about $30 for a quart. I got it online, but they also have it at certain "green building" places--there's a place in Kensington, MD for the DC people. I had previously used Ready Strip to strip a similar nightstand, and this left that in the dust! I used about 3/4 of the quart for this dresser. You glop it on, and in about an hour or 2, the finish is lifted. I had to redo certain areas that didn't respond as well, but it was SO much easier than the Ready Strip. I detailed the step by step on my blog (click on my name) if you're interested. Go in the "projects" section. The nightstand info should also be there. Stripping furniture definitely takes time and patience (something I'm short on) but definitely try!!! Start with a small piece. I actually would suggest trying staining first on a bare wood (my first pieces were Ikea pine pieces) and then stripping. I won't be doing anything for awhile! But, I'm happy with the results!!!

vazius13--I hear you. The finish on this was in really bad shape, actually....completely stained, and worn off in many places.

BlueLM--I'd probably not take the risk. It's low fume, but there are warnings on the bottle about birth defects as someone pointed out.

Beautiful job! Painting the legs the same color as the hardware is right in character with this piece. It has similar lines of a Fornasetti piece from the Architettura range of furniture in the 1950's. And Piero Fornasetti would have made those legs gold like the hardware!!!! Go girl!

i'm joining the chorus of readers who believe the legs should be painted like the handles. be bold!

Thanks for the tip from those who checked.
39520Expat - what, haven't you ever just asked someone instead of research? There's something to be said for expediency. But thanks for the reminder about Google. I *almost* forgot about it.

dark legs for sure.. otherwise i think it would be too flashy & would remind me of something seen in Vegas =)

PS I think the dresser I used in college was the upright version to this set =)

I think the lighter legs currently in the photo suggest that making them the color of the handles will look great.

First thing I noticed in the picture was that the legs did not match. I would stain them. Great job!

That looks just gorgeous!

I like the lighter feet, but I don't think I would like them gold. Maybe a contrasting stain?

Good job. Good point about the dust bunnies.

My 2 cents: Stain the legs dark, but paint a thin gold band around the bottom.

Christine, this looks amazing. What is the stain that you used? This is exactly what I've been looking for but nothing I've picked up comes even close.

Oh and my personal preference would be to stain the legs, but I really like enmnm's suggestion about adding a gold band around it!

I've used the Franmar Bean-e-doo soy mastic remover to get up the tile mastic from my bathrooom floor after i chipped up a layer of tile over the original hex tile, and i just picked some up last weekend for my kitchen floor. it's an amazing product, no odor, kind of sticky to clean up after. but it's worth it not to have the smell.

Loving the way this turned out - COngrats!

The dresser is fabulous. Congrats on a diy project very well done!

I think lighter legs would look great. The peice is generally very dark, so I think I little more brassy hue would brighten it up!

I too would love to know what stain you used. Love the color!

Awesome job. I agree with enmnm's post to stain the legs dark but just a bit of gold thrown in. I think all-gold legs would be a bit garish...

Marla Good, the first thing I saw was smiley faces too! That dresser is adorable.

Another vote for enmnm's dark legs/gold stripe suggestion.

I think that the legs are kind of a kicky bit of the design and if you don't paint them gold, they're not going to show. If you have the legs, feel free to make them match the rest of the wood.

However, regardless of what you do, I wouldn't try to paint the brass "sock" part at the very bottom of them; just do something to the top part of the legs.

Hi again...in London but had a second! Curtis, I unfortunately had to remove the brass caps because 2 were seemingly missing. I may still replace. I was looking for matching ones with no luck.

The stain is water-based minwax stain in onyx. I used 4 coats..so you can go lighter if you want. It also depends on the type of wood...I used much less on the pine pieces.

Great job on the dresser! My vote is for dark or dark with gold band legs. Maybe it's just the angle that the photo is taken, but have you considered extending the curtain rod so that your beautiful curtains can hang better and give the illusion of bigger windows? I think it will also flatter the scale of the dresser.

I vote for painting the legs to match the handles. You've got great style and painting the legs would fit right in. Your lamps and beautiful curtains draw the eye up enough so that I don't think the legs will distract. I think the painted legs will work more like a little glamorous trim on the toes of a favorite pair of dress shoes does -- they'll be just the finishing touch that makes the outfit look pulled together.