I was at the Goodwill store with my sister-in-law the other day and she spotted a very abused dresser. She very much wanted a dresser for my nephews who share a room, and she was particularly fond of the “piratey” hardware. Unfortunately, it looked like a hunk of junk. Centsational Aunty to the rescue! I promised I could bring it back to life. Daring me, she plunked down the $15 listed on the price tag. I repeat, $15, only because you won’t believe the final product.
Accepting her dare, I bought the following supplies: MinWax tinted stain in Antique Red ($8), some medium grade sandpaper ($3), and one new pull in chrome for $3 (which I later spray painted ‘antique bronze’ with Rustoleum to match the existing hardware).
First step: Get rid of hideous water marks and stains all over top of dresser. Did you know that mayonnaise takes out water marks on wood? No kidding. I’ve used this trick before when “oops” you leave your water glass on wood and it leaves a stain. Mayonnaise usually gets it out in just a few hours. I learned this trick from the book “Hayley’s Hints” written by Graham Hayley. I cannot recommend this book enough for environmentally friendly cleaning, and practical tips on using everyday household products, etc. Below, you can see Mini CG helping me in the mayonnaise application.
Second step: Get rid of disgusting burn mark on top of dresser. I gently sanded it out using medium grade sand paper, working with the wood grain,
not against it. The picture shows what it looked like before I sanded it. After getting rid of the burn mark, I then gently sanded the rest of the dresser before applying the stain.
Third step: Apply tinted stain to sanded wood top and drawers. This was unbelievable to me, how one coat of Minwax tinted stain completely changed the piece. It was so easy ! I used a sponge, and followed the directions on the can. You can see in the first photo how the stain dramatically changes the raw unhealthy wood into an even smooth surface. The stain transformed the dresser to make it look like new cherry wood. Unbelievable what a little elbow grease and tinted stain can do.
Drawers, before and after.
Final step: Apply one coat of polyurethane to top (for protection). Reattach hardware.
Can you believe this hardware? Very “piratey” indeed.
It alone was worth the price of the dresser.
Final product
You can imagine what a dresser like this costs at Bombay Company or similar furniture stores. My 9 year old and 7 year old pirate loving nephews are going to love it ! I can already picture their pirate ship and treasure chest sitting on top. Aarrgggh.
Dresser $15
Tinted stain $8
Sandpaper $3
New pull hardware $3
Total cost: $29
[4/29/09 Author's Update: This project won the Minwax company's Showcase Project - see this post.]
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And here is the highboy Before and After the redo:
