Long time no write. But who cares... on to the refinish.
I wanted a dresser to refinish to put in my entryway. I was able to get this one from a local lady selling it on a Facebook yardsale site for just $40. It is all wood, except the back is cardboard.
Before I had started in on this project, the lady who sold it to me offered to give me the matching nightstand for free! She even delivered it to my door one afternoon. I ended up putting the entry way on hold while I worked on transforming my daughters nursery to a big girl room and the Night Stand was a great addition.
Right off, I didn't love the accent pieces on the face of the piece, so I took some of the wood pieces off the front. I pried it off with a small crow bar like tool and added some trim with my nail gun.
Time to strip. I could have just sanded the heck out of it, but I like to strip off the old paint or stain. I brushed on Citristrip and laid plastic film directly on the piece. You can wait 30 minutes or up to 24 hours to penetrate.
Next, scrape the yuck off. Stain strips off more like a gel where as paint tends to come of in sheets. It was a gunky mess. I would scrape off a section and wipe it on a paper towel. I used a little mineral spirits to clean up my tools and wipe down the piece a little.
Then I took the piece outside to sand it with my sander. This takes off a lot of the color and you can easily get carried away with the lower grit and take off details of the piece. I used foam sanding blocks to get around the cracks. Starting with 120 grit and working up to 320 for a super smooth finish.
I wiped it down with a damp rag to get off any dust and let is dry well.
Then applied primer. I prefer the oil based Zinnser 123 primer. I hear the spray primer works well, too. I just haven't tried it before. I painted the main body of the piece a white color that was a color match to IKEA's Malm dresser. That is what we have in her room. I painted the drawer fronts a blue that matched her comforter. I did this same color palette on her desk, so I made it coordinate.
I also ended up adding legs to the piece. I think the look of the raised piece makes it more feminine and elegant. You can see where I changed some of the trim pieces. I finished the top with Polycrylic to protect it from wear and tear.
Now on to the big dresser...
