Dresser Makeover

Stacey Thorp
Sep 5, 2016
2 min read

Jazz up an old dresser using wall art stickers

So I moved into a new place a little while ago and there was some an old dresser in the basement so me being the cheap bastard I am I wanted to make it presentable for the spare room. It's one of those old chipboard that have a bit of water damage but it was still solid and the draws worked.

1. Firstly I gave it a good clean and got all the cobwebs and sticky drink marks off.

2. I removed the hardware. The old handles on this one were kinda cool (and I didn't want to buy anymore) so off they came.

3. This was the suckiest part, sanding. I only have a little hand sander from a multi-tool so this took a while. Because it’s not real wood I was just taking off the topcoat so I could paint it. Once the places you’re going to paint looks rough (not shiny anymore) give it another clean. You don't want all that sawdust screwing up the paint

4. Painting! I used plain white latex wall paint and put it on with a roller from the dollar store. I needed a paintbrush for the finer details like under the top and around the draws edges. I painted 4 coats, one in the morning and one in the afternoon (wait until it’s dry to the touch before you do each coat)

5. Stick on Pictures. I got some of those wall art stickers from Wal-Mart (they were on special for $5 too!!) and I placed them on the front of the dresser draws when the draws were back in the dresser. Once I had the stickers where I wanted them I used an exacto knife to cut them between the drawer gaps. My draws were tight but if there was gaps between I would have put the stickers on with the drawers out

6. Remove drawers again and coat everything you sanded and painted in white with clear coat. I used Varathane Diamond Wood Finish, Water based Gloss. I did 3 coats on the sides on the dresser and over the stickers but the top of the dresser I put 2 extra coats.