Dressing Up the Dresser

Remember awhile back when I wrote this post and this one about my adventures (or lack thereof) in thrift shopping?  While I had no luck, my sister always seems to and she has some great finds to show for it.  And wouldn't you know - she just happened to have a spare dresser that she scored for only $20 at an antique store just sitting around, so she offered it to me.

We needed a dresser of some sort for Addyson's Big Girl Room Makeover so I took my sister up on her offer.  I thought that it would be a fun DIY project that would add a little character to the room.  Little did I know that the condition of the dresser was questionable (to say the least).  Cell phone photos can be deceiving!  Nonetheless I wanted to give it a chance and see what we could make of it.

Upon it's arrival at our house there were several places where the paint was peeling off, the drawers contained mouse droppings (when I said that the dresser was sitting around I meant in storage in my parents' unfinished basement where mice sometimes tend to hangout during the winter months), the top wood layer was peeling off, it was covered in cobwebs and the drawer liners were stained and coming out (the coming out part was a blessing because said liners were stained and ripped).  As my sister said, I should have known that for $20 the dresser wasn't in great condition, but I wasn't expecting quite so much wear and tear.  Still, it was a cute piece and I just knew that with some TLC it would be just fine for Addyson's room.

Thankfully my dad is somewhat handy (please note that I said somewhat) and was willing to spend 3 hours of his time sanding and priming the dresser so that I could then "fix it up".  So my part in the makeover turned out to be quite simple after all of my dad's hard work.  I simply spray painted the drawer fronts a light shade of pink and replaced the old knobs with new ones from Hobby Lobby.  And viola!  Just like new!  Sort of.  The drawers don't slide in and out very smoothly and there are still some knicks and dents here and there, but overall it turned out pretty well.  And Addyson loves it!

Check out the before, during and after photos:

Before any work was done.

After my dad finished sanding and priming.

After I spray painted drawers and added new knobs.

Here's a breakdown of cost on this makeover:
Dresser - free from my sister (although I did buy her lunch for her donation).
Labor (sanding and priming) - free work from my Dad and he paid for the primer too:)
Spray paint for drawer fronts - $3.49 from Wal-Mart
Drawer knobs - $5.99/knob at Hobby Lobby but were 50% off.  Total for 6 knobs = $17.97
Drawer liners - $0.97 cents/roll at Wal-Mart (I used 2 rolls) = $1.94
Grand Total = $23.40 (plus lunch for my sister)

Not too bad for my first attempt at a furniture project!