Before & After: A Sturdy and Stylish One-of-a-Kind DIY Changing Table
Sunny found this mega outdated but well made dresser on Craigslist and knew it would be an excellent fit in her nursery. Some sanding, painting, and drilling resulted in a muted yet gorgeous piece of furniture. Oh, and she did it all while very pregnant. We’re tired for her.
From Sunny: This $50 Craigslist wood dresser was just the perfect size for our nursery — but boy, was it ever hideous. Plastic flower decals, chipped paint and faded colors took away from its great lines and solid craftsmanship.
As much as I loved the original metal pulls I really needed easy to pull handles for when a squirming baby was going to be on the change table. So I changed them out with vintage pulls I found elsewhere and kept the old ones for another project.
Also, I had been looking for a gray or white change table to fit with the monochromatic colors of our nursery, but everything I found in stores or online was either too large, too small, not well made, used toxic paints and stains, or just too expensive.
I started by taking off the floral decals and giving the dresser a thorough cleaning. I took the door off its hinge, took out all the drawers and gave everything a light sanding before filling in the drawer pull holes with wood filler.
Then two coats of white FolkArt Home Decor chalk paint all over set the stage for when I taped off areas that I wanted to paint gray. I added a final coat of clear FolkArt Home Decor wax sealant before drilling new holes for the set of vintage brass chevron pulls I found at an antique store (which cost me slightly more than the dresser did, at $75 for 7 pulls).
Finally, I installed two L brackets and a small wooden cutting board to the inside of the door so that our diaper pail would swing out when I opened the dresser door.
The total cost of the project was about $140 (I used Joann’s 50% off coupons to buy the chalk paint and wax, and the dollar tree for the little L brackets) and took me about three days to complete. I’m sure it would have been faster had I not been eight months pregnant at the time and needing frequent breaks.
I love that the dresser is a one-of-a-kind piece that fits with the rest of the nursery and can grow with our daughter. It works perfectly to house our weird shaped diaper pail and is a solid piece of furniture that won’t topple over when the top drawer is open (even still, don’t worry, we made sure to screw it into the wall).
Sunny’s words of wisdom: Keep in mind that change table toppers are standard size, so look for a dresser that can accommodate that size. Also, the height of the change table is crucial for keeping back pain at bay when you are changing 6-10 diapers a day, so don’t go too short with the height of the dresser.
Thank you, Sunny! You can see this project and many more on Sunny’s blog, Lake Luv.