THE DUMPSTER DRESSER MAKEOVER
| A CINDERELLA STORY
Once upon a windy fall evening, I was taking the trash out and at our apartment building’s trash center. There she was, sitting lonely and cold but even in the dark I could tell she was special.
I had been looking for a dresser to makeover as a TV stand. What I wanted didn’t exist or cost more than $900.
It was fate.
So we took her inside and very soon after I started working on this epic up-cycle!
Step one was sanding. I started with 80 and 100 grit sandpaper until the top was sanded down to the bare wood.
Make sure you wear a protective mask and goggles, be prepared for the dust particles if you are hand sanding, and be sure to do this outdoors or in a non – living area.
My best friend was actually visiting from Fiji at the same time and she was pretty much the muscle behind all the sanding (thank you Akilah!). A few weeks later I got myself this amazing sander from Amazon! This was a life save for another project because Akilah wasn’t there to help me so I needed reinforcements
We took all the drawers out and all the hardware from the drawers which was mainly the pulls, sanded everything else lightly and wiped downed every inch several times Those tiny particles are tough to get rid of and there was an obscene amount of dust from sanding.
I taped off where I wanted to stain. I used this Varathane Classic in Special Walnut from Home Depot.
I used a foam brush from Michaels and an old rag to apply my stain (follow instructions on the can). I re-applied the stain three times, look at that lovely walnut finish after just one coat! Make sure you wear gloves.
I painted everything else with this Linen White Chalk paint from Rustoleum, two coats did the trick. I used paint brushes and a small roller.
Rub n Buff! Oh my word, I love this stuff, just a pinch of the Antique gold and viola! Like Magic.. gold pulls! I got mine on Amazon.
I waited at least a week then I varnished. I tried a spray on varnish but I wasn’t thrilled with the result. So I got this polyurethane water base varnish by Rus-Oleum and I was very pleased with the end result. Just be sure to varnish in a well ventilated area with little dust.