What started out as a necessity as a cash strapped college grad moving to a new town for graduate school has become a hobby over the years: upcycling Goodwill furniture finds. I can easily say that every single clothes dresser in our house has been thrifted from a local Goodwill and at this point that is quite a few of them considering we have three kiddos!
I’ve outlined a few steps below of how I select my thrifted pieces and a quick how-to on this colorful dresser which added the perfect pop of color to our youngest daughter’s nursery.
Pick Your Piece
- Peruse local thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales, and Goodwills for solid pieces of furniture that are in need of some elbow grease and a little imagination.
- Do open drawers, check backing, and inspect legs to ensure the structural integrity of the piece.
- Don’t pick laminated furniture or items made from particleboard. These aren’t absolutely off the table, but they can limit what type of modifications can be done based upon the material if not made from real wood.
- Be sure to check for water damage especially on laminate/particleboard as this will cause a bubbling effect on the surface of the furniture.
- Always opt for real wood constructed pieces. They can withstand the test of time and lend themselves to greater flexibility and creativity in the refinishing process. You can choose to sand down to a natural wood finish and stain or simply sand and repaint.
Prep Your Piece
Assess the work and tools needed:
- The effort of this step is very dependent upon what condition your thrifted or existing dresser is in and what finishes you select for the final product.
- For the purposes of this “how-to” you can see that the dresser I bought was bland, but in decent condition. These instructions will be for re-painting an old painted dresser.
Sand all painted surfaces:
- Remove drawers and hardware.
- Use sand paper with a low number and heavier grit to knock off most of the paint and then finish with a higher number, finer grit sand paper.
- Quick lesson on sand paper: It is normally categorized into ranges of numbers starting with 20 (extra coarse) up to 600 (super fine). The majority of use on furniture with a normal sander or by hand sanding for the purposes of refinishing furniture is to start with an 80 grit and smooth out with 120-160 grit.
- If simply repainting, all of paint does not need to be sanded off, but the surface does need to be lightly sanded and smoothed so that paint will adhere well to the surface.
- Patch any holes or deep scratches with wood filler and allow to dry before gently sanding smooth to match the same level as the surface.
Wipe down excess dust
- Take a tack cloth (these are better than any other since they are specially formulated to be lint and residue free) and wipe all surfaces that will be painted.
- On occasion and in a pinch, I have used a wet wash cloth, but have had to be careful to check for lint and allow time to dry.
Paint Your Piece
- For the first time in the history of all of my DIY projects, I did not buy any paint for this project. I used a hodge podge of leftover colors from other projects.
- I chose to spray paint the dresser with Rustoleum’s Painter’s Touch 2X in Ivory Bisque. This is also the same color as the top drawer.
- On the other drawers, I used Rustoleum’s Painter’s Touch 2X Candy Pink, Sweet Pea, Vintage Blush, and Krylon Colormaster Ballet Slipper Pink.
- For first time users of spray paint, spray lightly and multiple coats really are better. Take it from someone who has tried to rush one too many times and has gone a little heavy handed with the spray paint only to have the paint drip and run. This will put you back in the sanding phase of the project—after the paint dries of course.
Replace Hardware and Enjoy
- After the several coats of paint have thoroughly dried, it is time to replace the hardware.
- Hardware is all about personal aesthetic and chosen functionality. I tend to work on pieces that I am restoring to a specific style and I often try to salvage the existing hardware–especially if it is original to the piece.
- I was able to find these gold cylindrical knobs at Hobby Lobby on sale. Here is a similar set on Amazon: Gold Knob Hardware
- This hardware has held up beautifully to toddler hands pulling and yanking on drawers. Normally, I stick to Lowe’s or Home Depot for cabinet hardware selections, but Hobby Lobby came through with a fun eclectic selection that matched the playful paint colors I selected for this project.
