Note: apologies for the terrible pictures in this post. It was a "put down baby, take picture, pick baby back up" kind of photo shoot. Also, I didn't do anything to "style" this project, which another reason why the pictures are kind of sad. But, considering what usually lives on top of this dresser is our (10 year!) old television and that television's antenna, the bare surface is actually an upgrade. I love you guys and hope you will forgive me for this post's lack of sparkling visuals. Man, a new t.v., we have got to get on that...
That was the morning I looked at that dresser long hard and thought, "Something's gotta change...and that something, Dresser, is you".
Well, a month and a half later...here it is!
Okay, not the most mind-blowing furniture update, but it's a little fresher, a little brighter and (except for one part, which I'll get to in a minute), it was quick and easy.
To start off, I removed the knobs. A simple task, I just held the screws in place with a Phillips Head screwdriver and unscrewed the knobs from the front.
Then I removed the screws and put them in a cup while I was working on the knobs, because leaving them exposed turned the dresser into a terrifying Medieval torture device.
I laid the knobs out on some cardboard we had kicking around and gave them four very thin coats of white, high-gloss spray paint, waiting about an hour between each coat and alternately flipping them over to make sure I got good coverage. (I probably didn't need to wait an hour between coats, but, because they're something that's going to see a lot of handling, I didn't want to risk them being even the slightest bit tacky or drippy.)
After they had dried fully ( I let them sit on the porch til they didn't smell like spray paint anymore; about two days. This also ensured they were super dry), it was a simple matter of remembering where I'd put the screws inserting the screws and attaching the knobs back on to the drawers.
Here's what it looked like:
Originally, I had just planned on doing the knobs, but the too was looking in need of a little...something.
So, I thought, why not? And painted the top, too!
I wiped it down really well to get any residue off, then sanded it lightly, followed by another wipe down and then three thin coats of Behr Pure White in Semi-gloss. (The above picture is one coat in, which is why it looks terrifying.)
I think it's pretty cute. And one of those projects where the effort to result ratio weighs pretty heavily toward the "result" side; I always like those.
I should say that, since I can never seem to leave well enough alone, I am adding a stenciled pattern to the top:
It's slowly progressing; five minutes here, a half-hour there. Hopefully, it will be done soon. Then we can seal it and post actual finished (!) pictures.
Anyone have any projects that they've done with a high result to effort ratio? I'm always looking for something I can knock out in a couple of afternoons (with help from the Nap Fairy) that just makes things pop in a new way.
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