Please excuse the poor image quality here- these were taken on my phone pre-blog. As a new home owner I was chomping at the bit to turn our house into a
pottery barn catalog a home. Well then we went furniture shopping and furniture requires money- money we'd already spent on buying the house and trivial things like food and electricity. So it was out necessity and frugality that we started refinishing Craigslist and Thrift store items.
I found this dresser at my local Salvation Army- solid cherry and on sale for only $50.00! I had been searching and searching for something for our front hallway- its a long and wide foyer type hallway and I knew I didn't want to waste all that space by just putting a table there. I originally wanted a buffet or sideboard but I hadn't found any of those that met my rigorous criteria- namely cheap and solid wood. So when I found this beauty I knew I couldn't pass it up. It had all the original hardware but I'd already removed it in this picture. This picture also doesn't show just how sad of a state this dresser was in. The top was thoroughly scratched and the finish was uneven.
My trusty assistant since my husband was at work!
The finished product in the garage.
The finished product in its home in my front hallway.
I used my Makita power sander to sand the dresser completely then restained it in a toffee stain (Minwax) and finally finished with three coats of matte polyurethane. I had wanted to replace the hardware but thats A LOT of drawer pulls and those things don't come cheap so the originals stayed and I have to say I don't mind them so much. They are brass but they are so aged that the have a more natural tone to them.
All images copyright reserved
