Dresser Transformation After the Fail

Transformation Journey

After we "cleaned house" Dave Ramsey style (selling everything but the kids), we were in need of replacement furniture at a very discounted price...like, for free. This "beauty" was found via Craigslist free. I'll have to admit disappointment when I went to pick it up. It was much older and uglier than I thought, but inspired by the creativity in Blog-land, I reluctantly stuffed it in the van. Fingers were crossed that it would look better with a makeover. 

Original Condition

And, Attempt Number 1 yielded an almost epic fail. Almost epic only because it didn't fall apart, just went from ugly to uglier. Click Here to see the whole post. There was a lot of love from Blog-land regarding the fail and encouragement to try try again. Here is a glimpse of that disaster: 

Sanding and Staining FAIL

Hello chalk paint! A forgiver of makeover flubs. Since we don't have a set "style" in our master bedroom I went with white paint. I wanted to paint it a shade of turquoise to add some color to the room, but my husband was a bit hesitant at such a bold step. Baby steps, baby steps...someday we'll have a boldly painted piece of furniture somewhere!

Attempt #2

The hardware was cleaned following this tutorial at ehow.com: How to Clean Kitchen Cabinet Hardware . It uses distilled vinegar and dish soap. Its a great, non-toxic way to spiff up the handles. They weren't any prettier post-cleaning...hello spray paint.

 

Then finally, Attempt #3, yielded some color and visual texture. We struck a compromise and went with French Grain Sack stripes in a neutral color. 

The finale: