I briefly looked at furniture and found out really quick how pricey it can be. Instead of spending tons of money on a new dresser, I decided to take an old dresser and spruce it up a bit. The dresser was already white; however, it was an off-white and looking pretty yellow and dingy in spots. I decided to paint it a bright white that had more of a matte look and switch out the hardware to give it more of a modern look. While I am by no means a pro, I thought I’d share what I used and the steps I took for this little DIY project.
Remove Hardware & Clean
It seems simple, but don’t forget to start with the basics. Remove the hardware that’s on it and wipe the piece of furniture down. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but make sure there is no dust or anything on it.
Sanding
I didn’t spend a ton of time on this part. I took a couple of the sanding sheets below and quickly sanded down the furniture. Again, I’m not a pro and kinda just went with the flow and did my own thing. I basically just sanded it enough to get the soft/glossy feel off and make the furniture a little more rough to help the new paint stick better.
Priming
In my opinion, priming is a necessity. I just did one coat of the primer and rolled the primer on the dressers. I wasn’t as worried about getting the primer in every little crack, but I did want the whole dresser covered. I will say that they had this primer at Lowe’s, but I only saw it available in a gallon for around $24. I knew I didn’t need that much, so I ordered this smaller one on Amazon for around $9. After I finished priming, I let it dry for 1 hour.
Painting
I thought picking out paint was as simple as going in Lowe’s, picking out a color, and that’s that. Little did I know, there are many factors that go into paint. I’m going to share pictures of the one I got incase you want all the details. Let me start by mentioning that I’ve painted furniture before, but these dressers were boogers to paint! There were so many cracks and details that you really had to get the paint into. I took the small, angled brush shown below and started with the small details on each side. Then, I’d go in with a roller and even everything out. Again, I’m no pro but this worked for me. I painted one coat, let it dry, then painted another coat.
Hardware
In my opinion, this is key to making a difference! I knew I wanted gold hardware that looked a little more modern. I found a 15 pack on Amazon for under $25. It’s important to note before ordering or buying hardware how many holes and/or the distance between the holes. Both dressers of mine required single hole knobs. The pack I ordered came with two different size screws and both were too long. Thankfully, I was able to use the screws that came with my dresser and they worked great! Make sure the dressers are completely dry before adding the hardware.
As simple as that, you have a dresser that looks like new and you’ve saved lots of money! I spent well under $100 on this project and many dressers that look similar online are well over $2,000. I do recommend checking Amazon for primer and brushes before you buy from Lowe’s or elsewhere. They seemed to be a little cheaper on Amazon, so I ordered most everything from there. I will link everything I ordered here. I will share before & after photos below and some pictures that you can really see the color difference. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out!
