Refinishing a Dresser

We got a dresser from my brother-in-law when they moved a while back. It was too big to fit in their new space, but it was a solid wood dresser – so I couldn’t pass it up! It needed a little TLC and a little drawer repair but was otherwise in good functional shape. I had my husband do the fixing and I did the refinishing. It was really super easy.

Before

I’m now looking at the old dresser Landon has in his room (that was Brad’s when he was a baby!) and have plans to give it a new look too.

What to know how I did it? Of course you do!

Refinishing a Dresser

I went to Home Depot and found a paint person that knew what they were talking about. I pretty much told them I had a dresser that I wanted to paint but was WAY to lazy to sand the whole thing down before painting it. I was intending on getting a high quality primer but he said (since I was being lazy to begin with) I could skip that step with getting the Behr Preimum Ultra (their most expensive paint that has primer in it).

Give it some sanding love

I wasn’t completely lazy. I did sand the whole dresser lightly with some 110 grit sand paper. When I mean lightly, I mean lightly like someone who is lazy and is sanding a dresser. It took me about 15 minutes from start to finish with the process of taking off the knobs and sanding.

Once it’s all sanded, wipe it all down with a damp rag until it’s nice and clean.

Start Painting

The best way to paint furniture without leaving brush strokes is to use a foam roller. This won’t leave any lint behind and will make a nice, beautiful smooth surface. You’ll need to do 2 coats. I know they say to sand between coats, but remember I’m lazy? I didn’t sand in between and it came out just fine. I was able to redo this with 1 quart of paint (and some to spare), costing about $15.00.

I picked up some knobs for another almost $10.00 installed those after the paint had thoroughly dried.

Seal It

Let it cure for a good 3-4 days, then add a layer of wipe on poly. It’s made by Miniwax and is really easy to use. It will help to seal it for easy cleaning and protection.

The Result