Repainting an Old White Dresser; Awesome Craig’s List Find

written by:Cassity Kmetzsch
Erin at 3 Meadow Lake Cottage has made a wonderful change to an old white dresser.


I FINALLY finished the rehab project on my Craigslist dresser.
It was hard work.
But it only took me 3 months 🙂

Here’s a reminder of how it looked when I bought it…


It was in such sad shape: peeling paint, missing knobs, red stains from an unknown substance, and drawers that didn’t work. 

But it had great bones. 

So I scraped
and scraped
and scraped.

Then I sanded
and sanded
and sanded.

  
Then I painted two coats of primer and three coats of semi-gloss white paint on it.


I managed to fix almost all of the drawers glides by using a screw driver to some WD-40.
I only had to replace one of the glides because it was beyond repair. 
Thank goodness because they run about $5.00/each for new glides!

After scrubbing the heck out of the insides of the drawers to get them clean, 
I added some contact paper {from Target} to the bottoms to make them look super crisp and clean.

I picked out and ordered some classic oil rubbed bronze knobs and handles off of Ebay 
{Ebay has GREAT deals on cabinet hardware if you are ever in the market for some!}.

I chose hardware that looks really simple and classic since there are a lot of details on the dresser itself.

And after ALL of that hard work, here is how the dresser turned out…


Here is a before and after for comparison…



Oh and here’s my old piece-o-junk that it replaced…

 

Much better, don’t ya think??
{Hopefully I can get someone to buy that old thing!}


I am so in love with how it turned out.
Thank goodness I didn’t toss in the towel half way through the project.
In the future, however, if I see a piece of furniture that needs massive rehab like this one did, 

I probably will run the other direction!

Here’s the cost breakdown:
Dresser: $20
Stripping Supplies: $36
Paint Supplies: $37
Knobs/Pulls: $20 {included shipping}
Contact Paper: $5
Drawer Glide: $5
TOTAL: $123

My new dresser kinda reminds me of the one of been drooling over at Pottery Barn… 

 Except that one is priced at $1,199.

I think I like mine better anyways.


Wow I can’t believe the savings!  Wait, I can!  
Great job on the white dresser rehab!
Cassity Kmetzsch
Website | + posts

Cassity Kmetzsch started Remodelaholic after graduating from Utah State University with a degree in Interior Design. Remodelaholic is the place to share her love for knocking out walls, and building everything back up again to not only add function but beauty to her home. Together with her husband Justin, they have remodeled 6 homes and are working on a seventh. She is a mother of four amazing girls. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.

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14 Comments

  2. >It looks very much like the Pottery Barn dresser!
    So much infact, I thought there was one last
    picture of your refinished one! Beautiful job!

    Jane
    Flora Doora

    Reply

  4. >I've got to be totally honest. I like the dresser you refinished better than the Pottery Barn one….

    Great job!

    Reply

  6. >I think your dresser looks better than the PB one. Much more character. Thanks for sharing.
    Traci

    Reply

  7. >Your dresser looks A-MA-ZING! Way to go! Thanks for the inspiration and where to buy good deals on hardware. 🙂

    Reply

  12. >This is certainly beautiful, but part of me would like to see a light glaze over the white paint to bring out all those pretty dimensional details on the top drawers. Still, it's an improvement over what it used to be!

    Reply

  14. >Wow you've done a terrific job! It really was in a sorry state of affairs to begin with. It looks gorgeous now, and soooo expensive.
    Megs 🙂

    Reply