Solving the Dresser Dilemma

So I finally solved my dresser dilemma (click on the link to see the post about my old junky dresser)...

I bought an old dresser for $20 off of craigslist. 

You have to look beyond the superficial mess and see the awesome bones to appreciate it.

I know Jacob thought I was absolutely insane as he helped me load it into the car. He couldn't understand why I would buy something so ugly.

But I KNEW it had potential. 

I mean, look beyond the chipped paint, the red stains, the missing knobs, and the fact that the drawers don't work, and you can see that it is a sturdy, well-built dresser with really cool detail work.

I remember thinking, 

I can't believe I got this thing for only 20 bucks! I'll just strip off the paint, sand it, repaint it and it will look beautiful.

Funny how naive I was.

Stripping paint off of furniture is torturous work. Especially when that piece of furniture has an infinite number of little grooves and tons detail work.

The top of the dresser was easy. Just spread on the paint stripper, wait 30 minutes, and scrape it right off.

But I spend at least 15 hours over the course of a couple of weeks out in the garage with a flat head screwdriver, scraping out every single little chip of paint out of all of the grooves.  

It was super tedious work.

I got to about this point and was contemplating throwing in the towel.

See all of those little grooves and detail work?? 

Uuuggghhh, so much work!

But after a pep talk from the hubby, I decided to persevere.

I ended up getting almost all of the paint removed and sanded the heck out of the dresser. The garage now looks like a dust storm blew through :).

And now it has been primed and sits awaiting a few coats of new white paint. 

After two coats of primer, I sanded it down a bit again to get rid of the paint drips and brush stroke lines.

 

 Seems kinds crazy that I did all of that work to get the white paint off, only to paint it white again!

I was told by the pros at Sherwin Williams to use an enamel-based paint on furniture because it dries a lot harder and is more durable than paint you would use on the walls.

It's a bit spendy (around $50 for a gallon!), so I am waiting until tomorrow to buy it because they will be having a 30% off sale.

Then I have to get new drawer glides so the drawers work,

pick out new knobs for the drawers, 

and get some contact paper to line the insides of the drawers.

Now I know why the thing was only 20 bucks!