AWESOME find!

Isn't she pretty???? I found this beautiful antique piece at a garage sell of two sisters (late 50's / early 60's). They said they remember this dresser in their grandmother's house as kids. The drawers were all in pieces - but there's NO way I could pass up a $40 dresser - that also came with an antique mirror!

I intended to completely refinish her - and thought I'd have to cut new drawer pieces to replace the warped ones - the good news is - once I jumped in, I didn't have to do as much as I thought!!!

I ended up soaking the warped pieces in water and putting them between some heavy boards with clamps for about a week. They dried flat - and I only had to cut the bottoms of the drawers and a back or two. Can you imagine having to duplicate that tongue and groove pattern on the drawers! NO WAY!!! So . . . GRATEFULLY, I put back together all the old pieces with only a few new pieces - with glue and a nail gun (which I should say I enjoy far too much!) I put them together so well that after I'd assembled one drawer, I realized the back piece was in upside-down, leaving a small gap at the bottom back of the dresser. There was NO way I could have disassembled it - too many nails going in too many directions . . . so I cut a small piece of wood to fill in that gap.

But I digress . . . I was so excited about the drawers that I skipped the beginning! Before any of this, I pulled out the old, rusty, malfunctioning wheel casters - they were in there good. So after prying them out as best I could without damaging the legs, the small metal tubes were still stuck in two of the legs. My rescuer/husband pulled out his drill and was able to just drill them out - he's so smart!!!

Then I sanded the bejibbers out of it. Remember how I said I was going to completely refinish it? Well, my very smart friend Meredith suggested I keep the color it had and just distress it up - and after tossing and turning a few nights I KNEW she was right!!!

There was a flaky, yellowish old finish that came right off - then I just sanded down past the green color in certain places - like corners, edges, and curves. It was a very light wood underneath and leaves a subtle distressed look. I didn't want to risk mistakes by glazing or adding other paints that may not have been compatible - so I left her.

After she was sanded down and all the drawers were in working order, I slathered (although carefully and neatly) lacquer all over her - including every surface of the drawers. I read somewhere the lacquer would help prevent wood warping and knew that previously warped wood would be extra susceptible. She smelled STRONG!!! I had to wear (two) face masks and it still wasn't enough. But she dried - and even after setting her up, I left the drawers open a bit to air out.

Her built-in key holes were a brassy color once sanded down and I'm more of a silver girl, so I sprayed a bit of antique silver spray paint in a paper cup and used a little paint brush to carefully paint them - It took me quite a while to find the right knobs for her. I love the glass knob look but it just wasn't umph-y enough! So I found these awesome clock faces made by Tim Holtz - for scrapbooking of course! I had to drill the middle hole just a little bit bigger - and viola! A fun knob plate!!!

GORGEOUS!!