Oak Dresser Redo

A couple of summers ago when I was planning on moving into my own place, I realized that I needed a new dresser for my bedroom. I started looking on craigslist and I found a simple three drawer oak dresser listed for $30. It was exactly what I had been looking for, it was close by, and it was the right price. I had to have it. After seeing it, I knew it was going to be a lot of work but I was in love. I also ended up only paying $25 for it which was a steal. There was a chip out of the bottom corner on one of the drawers and a few water stains on the top but otherwise it was in good shape. I took it home and began work on it.

The dresser before beginning any work on it. At first look, it almost looks like a weird orange stain but it was actually multiple layers of paint.

Dresser without the drawers. You can see how dusty and dirty it was beforehand.

In the middle of my work, after hours of sanding, a storm came through very suddenly. It came on so quick I did not have time to get the dresser back inside and the entire thing got blown through the yard. You can imagine my disappointment. I was convinced it was ruined but luckily I did not find one dent on it. The only problem I had was the back of the dresser has a thin sheet of particle board on the back and it became a little warped. Good thing I decided on a sturdy, all wood dresser!

After getting it sanded I took some dark walnut stain and stained the dresser. I then took some polyurethane and put two coats of it on the outside to seal it. For the knobs, I took inspiration from Kmadson's Etsy shop. I made the knobs by designing the ads on a computer program I have and then printed them out onto paper. I cut them out and mod podged them onto the original knobs that came with the dresser. I also painted the original knobs black before putting the ads on them. I decided I wanted them to be extra special so I hid special dates such as when I took the NCLEX for nursing within the "vintage ads" on my knobs.

Supplies:

• Dresser - $25.00
• Paint stripper - $15.00
• Stain - $5.00
• Polyurethane - Free
• Sander - Free
• Sand Paper - $5.00
• Face mask for sanding - $5.00
• Eye protection for sanding - Free
• Rags for staining - Free
• Paint brush for polyurethane - Free
• Knobs - Free
• Paper - Free
• Mod Podge - Free
• Black Paint - Free

Total Cost: $55.00

I am really happy with the final project and overall it has held up really well. Most of the supplies I used I already had which made it fairly inexpensive. Also, It survived a massive storm and two moves... I'd say that's a pretty sturdy dresser worth every penny!