Before & After: A Shabby Dresser Gets Chic

Written by

Jennifer Hunter
Jennifer Hunter
Jennifer spends her days writing and thinking about decor, food and fashion in NYC. Not too shabby.
published May 13, 2014
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Post Image
(Image credit: Jamielynn Cowart )

When they moved in together, Jamielynn’s boyfriend Jason insisted they keep this old dresser. She agreed on one condion: that they spruce it up. Well, spruce they did.

(Image credit: Jamielynn Cowart )

Jamielynn says:

The first thing I discovered was a plaque inside the top draw that read ‘F. S. Harmon Manufacturing Co. Tacoma, Washington’ which coincidentally is my hometown. That warmed me up to this rather time consuming project. I unscrewed the knobs and discovered they were beautiful original brass fixtures covered in about 8 layers of paint. There also was brass plates on the drawer fronts that took some serious polishing. We used environmentally friendly Ready-Strip for the paint, some serious muscle and an orbit sander. Then we chose a Varathane brand dark walnut stain and semi-gloss polyurethane to get this restored look. This was my second DIY project and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Thank you Jason & Jamielynn!