And then there were 7 ...

A little fact about me: I have a weakness for old dressers. Beat up, broken, old little dressers that I can spruce up or repurpose into a side table, entertainment stand, desk, storage, hutch ... you name it. If I am out on a thrifting trip, the odds are pretty good, I am dragging an old dresser home with me at the end of the day ... and my husband is catching on. It feels like I am rescuing little pieces of history, and giving them a second chance at life. Its a sickness. Really.

Meet this little dresser. We will call her Number 7 ... because that's how many dressers I have rescued dragged home in the last year. With the purchase of her, came a pledge to my husband that I would not rescue any more dressers for a while ... but who's counting?

The previous owner, had started the daunting task of stripping the MANY coats of paint off of this one, and this is how it was left. When I purchase a piece of furniture, I have a pretty good calculation in my head of how many man hours I am going to have to put into fixing it up, and I tend to take on the shorter ones. Instant gratification is what keeps me interested. It wasn't really sturdy, and the back needed a bit of repair. Initially, I thought I would have to strip it back down to the bare wood. The top needed some TLC and this would take a LONG time. That's when Anna piped in, that she loved it just the way it was ... and I was inspired. Sometimes we spend hours trying to get the perfect "faux" shabby chic, when we can just work with the original. So that was my plan.

I sanded that top, for what seemed like hours. There was a beautiful maple top hidden under all of that paint and stain. This would give it a bit of a clean line, and also make for a more durable, usable top.

I gave it two coats of stain, and then covered the entire dresser top to bottom with a clear coat to protect it from wear and tear.

Now, I was so close ... for the finishing touches ... I added the pulls ... and Voila! 

Puke! 

I was so disappointed! 

I wasn't going to include this picture, but for the sake of showing you, 

that it doesn't just all "come together", I did. 

These handles did more harm than good to the appearance of this piece, and I was less than impressed. I sent a pic to Jade and Anna ... and they were in agreement ... 

whatever I did, I had to get rid of those pulls!

Look at what a difference 8 pulls can make on a piece. I love this dresser! I think I am going to use it as a mismatch side table set when I put this new bedroom together. 

I think it's one of my favourite dressers yet ;)

~T~