Free Dresser Re-hab

Hi, this article is about 1 on the projects that we took on, while not working on this website. Enjoy! from Tom and Michelle Corliss, the webmasters here at Home Information Guru.com

We hate seeing people throw way good quality items that still have a lot of life to them. We know that maybe to the person throwing away the item it seems like junk but a little imagination, just a few bucks and a little tender loving care and you can create nicely renewed items to either keep for your self, give away as gifts or passably sell for a profit.

Here is the latest item that we got for free, spend only $8 to redo, and now have a new piece of furniture to store all of our overflow kitchen supplies in.

Here are some pics of what the dresser looked like when we got it.

We started by removing the old solid brass (ugly) hardware. We always keep old hardware for other projects. We removed 40 years of dirt and oil stains from the finish first by washing down the whole dresser with a mixture Simple Green and hot water. Next, using a palm style orbiting sander and some 100 grit sanding pads we lightly sanded most of the finish to remove any clear coating that may have been applied during the manufacturing process or at a later time. This also helps to level out and dings and nick that are small.

Next, we  mixed up a small batch of all purpose filler, we use Durhams all purpose filler.  We patched the old holes from the old hardware. We will be using single hole pulls so we did not need the old holes. You may be able to skip this step if you are reusing the old hardware or replacing it with hardware that matches the old holes. We had to fill the hole twice to get them perfectly level.

Here are some pics of what the dresser looked like Before refinishing:

Next, we lightly sprayed the whole dresser and the drawer fronts with a coat of primer to help seal the bare spots from sanding and make the wood more acceptable to hold a smooth layer of paint later. We used only 1 can of primer for the whole dresser.

After a few hours of drying time, out of direct sun light, we was able to lightly sand a few spots from where the patches where covering the old hardware holes.

Next, using Rustolem 2x cover gloss black (2 cans) we sprayed the whole dresser. We were successful by applying to light and even coats instead of tiring to completely cover the old finish in one coat. We allowed about 3 hours of dry time between coats. Again make sure not to allow the pieces to sit in direct sun light or your finish will blister.

Here is the finished project. we already had extra pulls from when we refinished our kitchen. These pulls came in a 10 pack and we originally paid $16 for the 10pk.

Here are the pics of the finished dresser (kitchen supplies storage unit for us)

This just shows you that a little bit of elbow grease, some imagination, and very little money can give you beautiful re-purposed items.

Next, we will be re-doing a mid-century modern style credenza for the purpose of our new entertainment center. We will take more time with that project to document more closely as we progress through the steps.

For lots of tips and tricks about other Home and Garden ideas and projects please check out our categories on our main page at Home Information Guru.com

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About Tom Corliss
Tom Corliss is a web publisher, internet marketer, and website developer, with 3 current websites, Home Information Guru.com, Home Selling Resources.com, and Simple-Food-Solutions.com. He also runs a home improvement company Corliss Property Enhancements.

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Here Are Some Of The Supplies We Used To Refinish This Dresser: