Dresser Redo

Ken just started a rotation as a drilling manager of a rig way up in Northern BC and would be gone for two weeks so I figured I should do some sort of project to make the time go faster while he was away.  I settled upon painting a dresser for the baby's room since we needed one anyway.  The timing was perfect as my community was having garage sale day so I scoured every garage sale and found a dresser that I thought would work as a change table and storage piece in the baby's room.  I picked it up for $30 and with a little help from family brought it home to the garage.  It was kind of ugly but I thought it had good potential.  I forgot to take a before picture with all the drawers and hardware installed so you'll have to visualize it all put together!

Before: Dresser

Before: Drawers

Before: Hardware

My sister-in law has painted several projects for her house so she volunteered to come over and help me out the first day.  We wiped the dresser down thoroughly then gave it a good sanding to smooth it out.  If you ever decide to tackle a project like this, make sure to wear a face mask to protect your lungs from the dust particles.  I was especially scrupulous about this as I am pregnant and didn't want the chemicals from the previous finish to wind up in my system.  

Since I didn't want to spend hours and hours sanding every little nook and cranny of the dresser, we used Zinsser Cover Stain (with the brown label), an oil based bonding primer to adhere to the stain.  We did one coat of the primer on all the drawers and two coats on the top of the dresser, as the top will be subject to more wear and tear.  We used high density foam rollers to apply the primer to the dresser base and a good ol' brush for the drawers.  Getting around that molding, however, on the drawers was a real pain in the butt.  I think if I were to do it over again I would use the spray on Zinsser instead.  It would have saved me so much time!  I let the primer dry for a good 24 hours.

Since there were a few drips and unevenness from the primer, I sanded the whole piece down with a fine sandpaper block, making sure it was nice and smooth (again wearing the face mask).  I then wiped it down with a soft, dry cloth and then again with a wet cloth to get rid of any dust.  Then it was time for the first coat of paint.  I used Benjamin Moore Advanced in plain White (I didn't bother getting it tinted at all).  

 Again, the drawers were super tedious to paint with a brush and it was quite difficult to get a super smooth finish.  I found that because it took so long to paint around the molding, the paint would dry too quickly and the brush would create drag marks in the paint.  So I had to do a lot more sanding after each coat than I had originally intended.  I did two coats of paint of the drawers and three coats on the base of the dresser, paying special attention to the top.  I would have done three coats on the drawers but they were annoying me too much so I gave up haha.  Now, when I did a little research on this project, it was recommended to follow the paint job with a couple of coats of polyurethane for durability.  However, when I bought my paint at the store, the lady there told me that with the particular paint I bought I wouldn't have to.  I'm not sure how right she is about that but I jumped at the chance to skip another step!  I may regret this decision in the future but hopefully not.

One thing I overlooked in the beginning of the project was finding new hardware to match the holes in the dresser drawers.  It turned out that after I had done all that work (sanding, priming, sanding, painting, sanding, painting etc...) the hardware from the dresser was a far cry from any standard size found at any local hardware store.  That mean I would have to go back with wood filler, fill the holes and repeat every step for the inlay.  I was not happy about this prospect but I was also not happy about the look of the hardware.  So I let the project sit for a few days while I pondered my options.  In the end I came up with the idea of spray painting the hardware a nice bright color.  It was going to go in a baby's room, right?  So a bit of whimsy is always nice, plus I was saving myself some money.  I settled on a nice bright blue spray paint and set to work.

 Again, I made sure to protect my lungs and the baby with a nice face mask!

 I let the hardware dry for 24 hours, reinstalled it, put the drawers back into the dresser and this is what I got!

I am definitely happy to be finished and am relatively pleased with the end product.  I cant wait to decorate the rest of the baby's room and see how the dresser looks in the space.  So keep tuned for some further nursery projects to come!

-J