DIY: The Tale of Two Dressers

Contrary to the side I present of myself on here where I negligently talk about clothes as if I buy everything I covet, I am actually a pretty thrifty shopper. I splurge on things I deem necessary but for the most part, I won't splurge unless I've looked at other alternatives first.

This played out as I moved into my own space a couple weeks ago. Though I already had a TON of stuff to fill my spot, I still knew that it was going to cost me a lot to furnish an entire place all by myself (from cleaning supplies to shelves). Some costs were going to be unavoidable (i.e. a couch) but some, I could work around and save money.

Such is the deal with my dresser. The dresser has been in my family since 1996. It came to us as an utter piece of crap but I still used it for many years in that condition: 

{The only picture I could find of the dresser in its original blech condition}

After years of dealing with that, I finally decided to paint it white a few moons ago. BUT, I didn't do any prep work because I was 21 and lazy so the paint always chipped and the knobs were pretty shoddy. Regardless, the white was a vast improvement from the original condition. 

{My white dresser}

However for the 2011 makeover, I decided to do it the right way. First, I cleaned off the entire dresser with a damp cloth. Immediately following I sanded it down to its original wood (a PAINSTAKING and boring task). I then patted it down with a cloth again and let it air out a few days. 

{Sanding is for CHUMPS. I was bored and exhausted at the same time doing it.}

After a few days, I put two coats of white primer on the wood and then again, let the dresser dry for a couple days.

Finally, when it was time to paint, I took off (and threw away) all of the knobs and painted three coats of Behr paint. I then purchased knobs from Ikea (about half the price of any other place for knobs and I put them on myself thank you very little), and viola, a dresser was born!

Oh, and who can forget the knick-knacks for the top.

{Dresser embellishments- lamps, jewelery, flowers, etc.}

All in all, the DIY method was very cheap (Paint - $15.00, Knobs - $25.00, Primer - $8.00. Total project = $48.00) but I'm most proud of myself for being resourceful and finding beauty in something old instead of wasting my money on something new - can't wait to show you how it plays into the room once I get it all set up (room still very box friendly).

PS - if you noticed, the dresser is sliced on the very top. I like this trait about it (always have),
just looks different to me.

Ikea knobs here
Behr paint via Home Depot here.