Thursday, October 10, 2013

Curbside Dresser Before & After






A month or so ago I walked out of our apartment building to run to the store and I saw this great dresser sitting out front with a "Free" sign on it!  I immediately saw potential and lugged it up to our 3rd floor apartment!


Before...                                                                    After...

      





I was super excited, I'd been looking for a dresser forever and not only was this one free--it was solid wood and in pretty darn good shape!  I've taken a couple months to get around it for a few reasons--I wasn't sure what color I wanted to paint it and was also daunted with the task of painting it inside our little apartment.

I finally got around to it this week...I've been racking my brain to try to decide what color to go with, so I finally just went into the store and picked a color and went for it!

I decided on a color called Gray Mist (Benjamin Moore).  I roughed up the wood, I didn't sand it all the way down because that's just not a possibility when you can't take it outside.  I put about 3 coats of paint on it and the knobs (Picked out some great vintage Brass Knobs for $10 at a local antique store--the best part is that I still have 8 knobs!).  Here's what it looked like at that point...



I loved the lighter, white color--but my husband and I both decided that it was missing something.  
We decided to add a bit of a personal touch by adding a handwritten quote to the front of the dresser.  We both love the quote we picked--
"If you only have one smile in you, give it to the people you love." -Maya Angelou  
I used a Gold Sharpie Marker to handwrite the quote onto the front of the dresser.  I first outlined the quote in pencil and then went over the outline twice with the marker.  Afterwards I just went back and erased any pencil marks that were still showing.


So once I did this I was somewhere in between loving it and wanting to immediately paint over it!  I loved the personal touch, but wasn't sure whether or not it was a little too kitchy.  I like things to be personal but also classy and I thought it might be lacking on the classy side.
Enter my Aunt--she is an amazing DIYer (her and my mom were partners in crime during my childhood)--her suggestion was to add a bold color to the top.  I love-loved that idea!  So...with the help of my Aunt...I ended up with something I really love!!



I think the addition of the bold color not only adds a unique element, but it also splits the "statement" part of the piece so that there's not as much focus on my not-so-great handwriting.







So what do you think of my dress revamp??  Did I kick the kitchy?

Make sure to follow my blog to keep up-to-date on all my tips and DIYs!

Check out other great projects at the places I link up:







The Shabby NestSomewhat SimpleLiz Marie Blogfive days five ways | feature friday free for all        The DIY'ers />    

http://www.thethriftyhome.comThe DIY Dreamer   Making Home Base


A Glimpse Inside


Weekend Bloggy Reading By Stephanie Lynn

8 comments:

  1. I really like this! What did you use to write the quote?

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    1. Oh--I can't believe I forgot to add that in!! I just used a Gold Sharpie marker--I got a pack that included gold, silver and copper!

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  2. I love it. The quote and the green top make it, or else it is just a plain ol' dresser. You did a great job!

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  3. Wow! You did a great job on that dresser. It looks gorgeous!

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  4. Your dresser looks great and that is a lovely quote too.

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  5. How pretty, I love the makeover! And I love how you wrote the quote on the dresser too, beautiful! :)

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  6. Looks great and the colour makes it pop!

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  7. Oh I love this idea, what a fabulous makeover. I would love for you to link up to Inspire Me this afternoon. Party goes live at 2:30 PT. www.astrollthrulife.net Hope to see you there. Hugs, Marty

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