Don’t try this at home.  I should have told myself this before I began this project.

Remember THIS?

My friend called to tell me it was in the middle of her road, so of course, I couldn’t resist the siren song of the dumped furniture!!! It was missing drawers, so immediately I thought it would be an easy fix.  Knock out the drawer supports, put a shelf in, maybe do my little casters trick….voila, new dresser!

Whoa was I wrong.  Rule of furniture Redouxing.  The more staples a piece has, the worse it was made.  This piece was made of staples.  I pulled out hundreds of them, maybe even thousands.

The good news is, when I was finished pulling it all apart, I put it back together more solidly than it had ever dreamed of being in the factory it came from. I did a lot of reinforcing.

Along the way, I did a lot whoopsing too.  Like I banged the top edge of this and had to sand it smooth and fill it in a bit.

I also thought I could use some leftover shelf piece to make the new shelf.  Just cut it down a bit.  What?  My table saw won’t cut it because it is so thick and I don’t have the right blade?  Why didn’t someone tell me this before I did this?

Now that the piece was solid, what to do for a paint finish?  I wanted to go sort of industrial chic, so sprayed the top with Aluminum Spray Paint, then I used a poky thing, the name of which right now escapes my tired brain….to distress it a bit, poke it a bunch of times in certain areas to make it look like worm wood.

After the paint had dried, I glazed it with a Tobacco Brown tinted glaze for an old look. I topped it with CeCe Caldwell’s Satin Finish for an extra durable top.  This piece can be used for food service now too, as it is water resistant, and the finish is hard.

Now I turned my sights to the body of the piece.  I wanted to try something totally new.  I used three containers.  I put about a half cup of CeCe Caldwell’s Smoky Mountain in one, 1/2 cup of CeCe Caldwell’s Memphis Blue in another, and then third, straight water.

A cup filled with CeCe Caldwell’s Smoky Mountain is just Yummy!!!

Memphis Blue

I started by dipping the brush in the water, then the Smoky Mountain, then the Memphis Blue.  I painted the entire piece with this.  When it dried, I did the reverse.  I painted the entire piece and the drawers in a “cross hatch” method for more texture.  I glazed the entire piece with the same glaze, and then waxed it with CeCe Caldwell’s Clear Wax.

Remember these boxes I found in my favorite dumpster a long time ago?

I still had some left!  I painted them CeCe Caldwell’s Vintage White, one thinned coat, then did the wax paper transfer method for the numbers.  Emma added the knobs, and this piece is ready to roll.  Literally!

Check out the bottom too, I added trim to cover the scrap wood.  I had a bunch that I found, guess where…..a Dumpster!

Even though this dresser started in humble beginnings, it has quite a bit of dignity now.  It is solid, I gave it the shake, shake, and roll test.  Nothing gives.  It is as green as a piece can be, almost all recycled materials, and 100% Green CeCe Caldwell’s paint.  Wouldn’t you feel good having this in your home?   It is hanging out at PFM for the January sale.  I hope it goes to a responsible, loving family.  It may not show any wear and tear, or scars, but it had a rough start in life, and needs to have a purpose other than just looking good in pictures.

Rolling this over to these fun hang outs.