Thrift Store Highboy: Elegant UpDo
June 22, 2009
For years, I’ve desperately wanted to bring some glamour and elegance to my foyer. It’s the first impression for guests, and it has been nothing short of dull for quite some time. Since our entry is only ten feet wide, I also wanted to bring reflective light and shimmer to the space as well.
Last week I hinted at the fabulous highboy dresser I picked up at the Goodwill for $35. Lucky me, it had only been on the floor for thirty minutes before I snatched it up. SCORE ! With a bit of stain and some new hardware, I brought this wonderful vintage piece into the modern age, and gave it a special new glow.
Here’s the foyer Before and After, upgraded for less than $50 dollars:
And here is the highboy Before and After the redo: 
Here’s how it all happened. As you know, I troll the local thrift stores looking for treasures. I chanced upon this solid wood new arrival and hustled – no I seriously ran – to the cash register to buy it before anyone else could, with my poor Ethan shouting “Mooooommmmiieee waaaaiiiit” as I dragged the poor little guy behind me. I spent part of my weekend giving this piece the TLC it needed.
Re-staining Previously Stained Furniture:
Step One, Sanding: Give your piece an all over good sanding, removing all varnish that may exist. Wear a disposable mask so as not to inhale any microscopic dust. In my case, I sanded the highboy by hand with coarse, and then medium, grade sandpaper. (My electric sander, although faster, would have been too rough on this delicate piece.) Work with, not against, the grain of the wood. It took over an hour to fully sand this dresser, and my arms were sore for two days straight, but hey I look on the bright side: I got a great upper arm workout.
Step Two, Conditioning: I’m a Minwax fan, so if you want to create better absorbency in your wood, you can consider using a wood conditioner like Minwax Wood Conditioner. Grainy or gnarly woods like oak or pine should definitely be conditioned beforehand.
Another really great trick is to use mayonnaise to take out water stains, like I also did with this project.
Step Three, Staining: To stain this piece, I used a staining pad and Minwax Gel Stain in Walnut. I truly madly deeply love this stuff. The gel formula is thicker, unlike regular stain, so you don’t need a brush, and it doesn’t drip. I recently used it to re-stain my entire two story oak staircase (reveal coming soon). How convenient is it to be able to stain upside down without drips? Brilliant !
The imperfections in the dinged up dresser soaked up this stain and were transformed into those ‘distress’ marks you’d pay so much for at a top retailer. This gel stain buries itself in the ridges, and translates into deep character, just like a glaze on painted wood.
One caveat: this gel product dries a bit more quickly, so you must work fast to get your stain strokes right. And don’t forget to wear gloves, cause this stain really stains !
Step Four, Reapply: If you desire added depth from your stain product, then reapply a second coat 24 hours later. Here’s what two out of three drawers looked like after just one coat (I applied two coats).
Step Five, Protectant: If you’ve used a regular liquid stain product, then you will probably need to apply a polyurethane to protect your piece. I’ve used Minwax Wipe-On Poly with success in the past on several projects. However, this gel based stain gave my piece such a nice glow that I didn’t find it necessary to add poly this time.
Here’s another tip I picked up from a painter friend of mine. If you want your oil based products to dry quicker than their typical 24 hour drying period, mix just a bit of Japan Drier into your product and cut your drying time to 6 or 8 hours.
So here is another close up of the drawers Before and After:
You can see how the ‘Before’ piece had a washed out honey color, plenty of dinks, and old-fashioned hardware. Just by staining the piece and adding new oil-rubbed bronze hardware from Home Depot ($12 for a set of ten), the dresser now looks like something out of the Drexel Heritage or Ethan Allen collection. I kid you not.
So perhaps you noticed that golden mirror over the highboy now has a nice champagne hue? My secret? A $2 dollar bottle of metallic craft paint in a taupe shade. Seriously.
Here is the mirror, halfway covered with acrylic craft paint:
Look at this detail below. Gorgeous, right?
So now I need your input, playing a bit of multiple choice.
I played around with a few preliminary vignettes, and I have a favorite, but I’d appreciate your vote. You’ll notice the flea market silver pitcher remains a constant. I love fresh flowers in the foyer, so it stays. And you’ll notice that a white ceramic bust makes an appearance (antique store find). Your opinions please.
A) Botanical Print with bust and clock
B) Paris Print with bust and clock
C) Silver Candlestick with bust and clock
D) Wedding Print with pair of busts
These two make me laugh, because they remind me of myself and Mr. CG, especially because I fancy myself with sassy jewelry.
So friends, give it to me straight. Which scene do you prefer ?
Tags: craft paint, highboy, staining
D.
I vote for D! when I saw the first picture in the post the vignette was the first thing I fell in love with!!
I have a question – the drawer pulls on the original piece, are they hard to remove? they aren't just screwed on like knobs are, are they?
Love this make over!!♥
~TidyMom
D is my choice. Everything just looks really professionally pulled together! Lots of elbow grease paid off…
Love it!
Cara
I can't wait to go trolling the thrift stores looking for a highboy for my "foyer" (if that's what you'd call the 2 feet by my front door)!! This is great! I've wondered about that technique for a while now. Did you use stripper or just sanding? And the mayonaisse? Do you just let it sit for a while or smear it in? & IMO- I love the wedding & Paris arrangements, respectively. Now, fess up- which one is your fav!?
I like the wedding pic option the best.
I vote for the wedding picture and two busts. Paris is the second choice, not too fond of the fruit print.
You are TRULY inspirational, I have repainted chairs I've had since 1994 since finding your site, and I'm recovering Ikea dining chairs–that's in process.
Thanks for the GREAT site–your writing is great, the project descriptions and photos make it so readable and understandable!
I absolutely love this redo. Such an inspiration. I definitely think that the wedding photo is the best. So beautiful.
I love the wedding one. It's great! I love your blog, you are so talented!
The wedding scene is my favorite too!
The last ensemble is my fav, but you could also swap in the Paris print. Gorgeous display!
What a gorgeous piece. It is definitely so much better since you refinished. My favorites are c and d. The paris print or the wedding photo. They are both great. I can't wait to hear which you choose.
Ruth
Maybe its my Southern roots, but I think the silver candlestick option is the best, though I'd take out the bust.
Paris print with bust and clock. Fo sho!
What a fabulous find and you did a great refinish job! My favorite vignette is the wedding with two busts!
The Paris and wedding scenes are my favorites.
I REALLY want to know about staining your staircase. ALSO do you think this product could be used on kitchen cabinets? I'm currently obsessed with finding a way to change mine.
Thanks in advance for your help, Martha
I love what you did great job…you totally rock! Anyway, I love B but I also like the wedding scene too and would switch back and forth between them!
http://computerokva.blogspot.com/
I absolutely love the last picture. I always try for the touch of whimsy as well, and you've done a fabulous job of combining elegance, personal bits and definitely whimsy!
Love, love, love your blog! If I could only learn how to get photos on my blog and embed links, I'd be having some serious blogging fun!
P.S. I live in Healdsburg so I'm a neighbor of sorts. I got a kick out of seeing that you're from Petaluma when I read about your "piratey dresser" transformation.
Blessings,
Michelle
LOVE the wedding pic and two busts! They can talk to each other and greet your guests!
Wow I was going to say wedding picture and busts too. I guess it's pretty popular. Great job on the highboy!
I vote for B or D! I bet I'm too late; how old is this post? LOL, just got back from vacay and catching up on blog posts!
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I LOVE the dresser! You're amazing! Thank you for sharing. I LOVE to thrift and re-do! Take a look at some of my treasures… Great idea with the gold, now I won't pass up some gold stuff when I see it out thrifting!
Ginnie Renner
Definetly the last one.
I love it with the candlestick, wedding scene and all the shimmer! Too cute!
Love the makeover of the chest. It is so rewarding to take an old piece and give it new life.
The arrangement with the wedding picture and the two busts is perfect. An odd number of objects almost always works better than an even number (much like nature.) Love the whimsy of the jewels on the bust!
D!
THANK YOU SOOO VERY MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO EXPLAIN THIS! You have no idea how incredibly helpful this is!!!
Thank you!
Michelle
Love the last one with the jewelry. Thanks for the how-to and pics– now I’m off to the thrift store! I am wondering, though, what shape the inside of the drawers were in– every time I get an old dresser the insides seem to be smelly and seedy. Were they in good condition? What do you keep in here?
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B! Love the clock with Eiffel tower photo!
Either the silver candleabra or the wedding pic are my favs! Botanic print is too much with the fresh flowers as well. But, Paris does work too
Hi Kate I just wanted to say thank you!!!!! I have been looking at my husbands UGLY dresser for 12 years and have always wanted to give it a do over. I was inspired from the step by step process and completed it in four days. This was my first real DIY project and it’s not perfect but an enormous improvement.
Thanks again and keep it coming!!!
[...] gold color, but I hand painted it with metallic taupe craft paint last year, just like I did with this mirror in my [...]
Hi, I love the end result with the wedding pic. I love the primitive look and have used black in livingroom and kitchen. I have left one piece in my diningroom white. I can’t decide hat I want to do with it. I got this out of an old house that was going to be knocked down. We took up all the oak hardwood floors also. I plained them and my husband put them down in the kitchen, diningroom, and the livingroom. Then I finished them. They are beautiful. But back to the piece in my dining room. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do with it color wise? Thanks for your help. Again I love the look with the wedding pic. You do such great work. Thanks Debbie