Chest of Drawers Makeover

Old furniture often gets pushed aside when it starts to look tired, but that does not mean it is ready for the curb. This chest of drawers had good bones; it just needed a little care to shine again. With some sanding, painting, and minor updates, it quickly transformed into a piece worth showing off.

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This chest of drawers makeover was a relatively easy project, requiring no special tools.

Antique Chest of Drawers

Even though the chest of drawers is in decent shape, folks around here don’t quite appreciate it in its natural beauty. If you don’t like painted furniture, look away.

Look what I found: the missing hardware. That made me happy. As you can see, the drawers are in excellent condition.

Do you see the date stamped on the bottom of the drawer? Could this dresser really be that old?

Assess Furniture & Make Repairs

Do you know what this piece on the back of the chest of drawers is called? I Googled and couldn’t find anything. It needed repair. I used Gorilla Wood Glue along with the original nails to reattach it.

Moving Large Furniture Without Help

I needed to move the chest of drawers from the storage garage to my driveway so I could work on it. Due to the tall legs, a standard dolly won’t work. I found it easiest to remove the drawers (due to their weight) and lay the chest of drawers down on my furniture dolly with the handle. This thing is incredible!

Remove Grime from the Chest of Drawers

I removed the hardware from the drawers and got to work preparing the antique chest of drawers.

Generally, I use TSP to clean my furniture. But this TSP Substitute was what I had on hand, and it worked well. The proof is on the rag!

Chest of Drawers Makeover with Milk Paint

Are you surprised to see that I am doing this chest of drawers makeover with a brush and not my favorite Finish Max? As you can see, I didn’t want full coverage on this piece. I wanted some of the original finish to show through. That’s a difficult look to get with a sprayer. This General Finishes Milk Paint went on quickly and easily with the chip brush.

The casters were removed for easier painting. As I painted the legs, I wiped back some of the paint as I applied it.

The top of the antique chest of drawers got the same “light touch” of the paintbrush.

This is the front side. This wasn’t really a wash, as I didn’t dilute the paint. I guess it was more of a dry brush technique.

Cleaning Furniture Hardware

I wasn’t sure what to do with the hardware, but I knew it needed to be cleaned. I chose to spray it down with Krud Kutter.

Using a paintbrush to get into the hardware’s crevices seemed to work well. Take a look at the dirt that was coming off.

Spray Painting Drawer Pulls

Every drawer pull looked different. The colors were all over the place, so I opted to spray paint them with a hammered finish paint. This paint was so old that there was only a tiny bit left in the can. I can’t believe it worked!

Chest of Drawers Makeover | Waxing

The brown furniture wax I used was also old. I need to start using this stuff to have a better turnover.

Black Chest of Drawers

After waxing the top and the drawers, I wasn’t completely pleased with the look. I gave another quick coat of milk paint over the patchy-looking wax. What do you think of the golden drawer pulls with the black paint?

To move it over to The Sugar Shack, I had to remove all the drawers and put it back on the furniture dolly.

I cleaned the casters with the Krud Kutter. They look so much better! The good news is that this piece can be used with or without wooden casters.

So, are you mad at me for painting it? My general rule is that I only refinish and restore family pieces. Have you seen Mammaw’s Dresser? That’s one I didn’t paint!

The chest of drawers now has a fresh look and a new purpose, proving that simple updates can make a big difference. Instead of spending a fortune on new furniture, you can bring new life to what you already have. I hope this project encourages you to take a second look at the pieces in your own home.

gail

related content: Old Dresser Ideas & Makeovers