The old dresser when we brought it home
As you read in our previous post, we became the foster parents of a very energetic four-year-old boy almost overnight. We had to make some very quick changes to our house to make it more kid-friendly.
We had already started building the wooden play table and chair set for him to play before he got home. However, we also needed a dresser to organize his clothes and a bed for him to sleep.
So, as soon as we got him, we had to supercharge our furniture factory (our garage). At the same time, having him with us means that we cannot spend as much time working on projects as we used to. Everything takes a lot longer now.
We kept looking for used dressers online until we found a vintage (from the 1950s according to the person we bought it from) SOLID WOOD dresser right in our neighborhood! We picked it up and brought it home to get it refinished.
HOW TO REFINISH AN OLD WOOD DRESSER WITH WHITE PAINT
As soon as we finished working on the play table, we were ready to tackle this other project. We had everything we needed, which was not much, to start working on it right away.
- An Old Wood Dresser
- Sander (Optional)
- Sand Paper
- Primer (Didn’t have any actually)
- White Paint
- Painting Supplies
- Paint Drop Cloth
- Drawer Knobs
- Drill and Drill Bits
- Screwdrivers and hand tools (always useful)
STEP 1: LIGHT SAND THE DRESSER AND DRAWERS
I started by light sanding all the pieces, the dresser and the six drawers using our sander. I did not go crazy with it as I’m definitely not a huge fan of sanding. We were just trying to roughen all the pieces for the new paint to better adhere to them.
After light sanding it with our sander and 60 grit sandpaper
Right after sanding the six drawers
STEP 2: APPLY AS MANY COATS OF WHITE PAINT AS NECESSARY
It could be argued that I should have primed and then painted the dresser. However, we ran out of primer when working on the play table. So I just went ahead and put three coats of white paint using a combination of a small roller and a paintbrush for the hard to reach corners, etc.
I would have loved to use our Power Painter Plus, just like when we worked on our office desk. However, this time, I figured it was just easier to use the roller and paintbrush (less prep work, etc.).
The dresser and three of the drawers with one coat of white paint
Three of the drawers with one coat of white paint
Right after finishing with the third coat of white paint
The drawers after three coats of paint
The dresser now in the bedroom before installing the new drawer knobs
Before installing the drawer knobs
STEP 3: INSTALL NEW DRAWER KNOBS
Once we were happy with the new finish, we drilled holes to install new drawer knobs.
And that was it! The “new” dresser was ready for him to store his clothes!
New finish and drawer knobs = New Dresser!
Our new white dresser!
*This post contains affiliate links
