Behold: The Transformation!

A while ago I took the leap and took my parents old dressers off their hands in the hopes of turning them into something beautiful.  I had no experience in this area but I just wung it, winged it, are those words?? 

I apologize for not having good before photos, I know it sort of ruins the effect.  I just get so antsy when working on a project and I'm not much of a picture taker.  Also, my time to work on these was limited so when Aiden would go down for a nap I would rush down to the garage and get right to work, no time for pictures!  So I have pictures of the tall dresser, and you can just imagine the long dresser and mirror looked exactly the same just a different shape.

I started out by sanding them down, I didn't do much, I left them mostly how they were, a little worn and damaged. I did fill a few of the gouges but I did leave the gouge worn into the side of the dresser (see the picture above) that was caused by my Dad's fingernails as he grabbed the side of the drawer to pull it out when the handles broke.  My parents have had these dressers since they were newly married.  So they are about 35 years old.  I'm excited to have them not only because they are great pieces of furniture but because they are a part of my parents.  It is so funny how now that I have these in my room the sound that the handles make as you open and close the drawers transports me right back to the house that I grew up in.

After I sanded them, I primed them.  I started out with spray KILZ, and even though that was really quick and easy I went to brush and roller because it was more economical.  I was discouraged at first, this was way harder than a spray, and takes a lot longer, but I got the hang of it and it was probably a good idea to help me to get used to the brush and roller before I started on my actual color.

After these beauties were all primed, I gave them a new coat of paint.  I used Behr's "Antique White" in semi-gloss.   This was a really great color and a really nice paint, I have a ton left over so I will be able to use it on many more projects! (or maybe repaint the dressers back to just this color, Matt told me that this is when he thought they looked they looked the best.... They did look good...Maybe someday)

Painted

Corner of the mirror before stain

Corner of the mirror after stain

When that was all said and done I moved onto the glazing part.  I headed over to benjamin moore and they suggested that I use a gel stain, so I bought gel stain in dark walnut.  Just wipe it on and wipe it off they say.  At first I thought that I had ruined them but in the end I think I liked the look it gave, I think I would have liked it to stay only in the grooves more than cover the whole surface but it looks ok anyway, everything but the tops anyway.

The tops of the dressers weren't doing it for me, I knew I had to do something else.  Early on when I started this project and was looking around for inspiration I had liked the two-tone look I saw a couple of times, so I decided to take the plunge.  I bought some spray paint for the handles and then threw that on the tops of the dresser as well and I loved it!!!!  It really made it look so much better and the day that I did this, I fell in love with the dressers and I was finally happy with my work and couldn't wait to get them into my room.  All that was left was the two coats of poly in semi-gloss for the durability to protect them, this gave them a nice finished look and gentle sheen, and they were done!!!!  You may notice that 2 handles on each dresser are different.  I did not do this out of artistic expression but rather necessity.  There were 4 broken handles so I needed to find something else to work.  I thought these would go nicely but now seeing it on the finished product, I feel that they are kinda "light".  I don't think that they really go but we drilled the holes so now that is their home for now.  The fun thing is that I know I can give these another makeover anytime I am ready for a new look. 

All in all, I learned a lot throughout this project and it feels real good to have been creating something and making some nice furniture for our home,  although I got the dressers free, this project was definitely not free.  But when I compare it to buying two new dressers, this was a steal!
Eventually I do want to line the drawers with a really nice fabric but that can wait.  we need to put these into use since I recently sold our other dresser on Kijiji, our clothes need a place to call home other than stacked on the floor and a stool!
Unfortunately, I don't think the dressers look the best with the brown color on our bedroom walls. When I was deciding how to paint these I did not consider where they would end up.. ooops

So what do you think??? I'd love to hear your thoughts!  Should I have stuck with the antique white??  Do they just look grungy now??