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Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

Simple DIY tutorials and thrifty furniture and decor makeovers

$5 Yard Sale Dresser Redo

March Madness, 31 Thrifty Makeovers in 31 Days!! Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

Hi Friends! Welcome to day #8 of my 31 Days of Thrifty Makeovers Series! Today is extra special because it’s also Trash to Treasure Tuesday (my favorite!), so my creative thrifty friends will be sharing a makeover of their own as well. 🙂

Let’s get to it! Today I am sharing the makeover of a dresser that cost me all of $5 dollars at a yard sale last Summer:

Crabby Dresser before

Yup. Five whole dollars. That was the price marked on the bottom drawer there. I think this was one of those purchases where you buy it because it’s so dang cheap rather than because you think you can really do something with it.

I didn’t have a clue for this dirty thang.

Then inspiration struck…in the form of a crab!

Dreeser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

 

Dresser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

The top drawer was not functioning properly and rather than try to fix it, I decided to take the top two out completely.

Dresser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

I built in a frame to support the new sides, bottom, and bead board  back.

Crabby-Dresser-4

It was a lot of work actually and if I had to do it over again, I would have fixed that stubborn drawer!

I do love how it turned out though.

This would be so cute in a child’s room. I imagine the top filled with books. My boys love their books, well my 13 year old not so much these days, but my youngest still loves them!

This is Pete the Cat. If you have littles, his book series is a fun one.

Dresser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

The bottom of the storage area is covered in reclaimed fencing that I whitewashed. (See how I did that HERE.)

Dresser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

I painted the dresser in Sparrow by Behr, made into DIY chalk paint.  I already had this on hand. Then sanded so the white beneath would shine through. I did sand and prime it in some areas first because it was in really bad shape:

Crabby-Dresser-Before-2

Now you know why it was only five bucks. I sealed the whole piece with Annie Sloan’s Clear wax. See my Chalk Paint Tutorial HERE.

Dresser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

For the crab I found the silhouette of one that I liked online ( I just googled “crab silhouette”), then saved it and uploaded it to blockposters.com…

I enlarge the image with blockposters.com

Then I traced around it  while the dresser was on its back.

Crabby-Dresser-7

And painted it in with acrylic craft paint.

Dresser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

Kinda cute, huh?

I sanded with 220 grit sandpaper to knock down any rough areas from the paint.

I kept the same hardware that was on it originally since it was perfect…

Dresser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

The paint job on this was a hot mess, including the drawers. I usually don’t paint the insides of the drawers, but these needed fixin in a bad way. Spray paint was perfect for the job. I did that before I painted the drawer fronts.

Spray paint is the best way to paint the insides of drawers.

 

Dresser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

 

Dresser perfect for a boys room from Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer

Not too bad for $5, huh?

Don’t go anywhere! My fabulous thrifty makeover friends are sharing trash to treasure transformations of their own!

trash-to-treasure2-e1439259582221

Check out what they did with these finds at the links below!

T2T 3-8

1. Artsy Chicks Rule   2. Prodigal Pieces   3. Girl in the Garage

If you missed any of the thrifty makeovers in my fun March Madness Series so far, you can catch up here:

March-Madness-Day-8

 1. Mini Shelf Makeover   2. DIY Tray from an Old Picture   3. Antique Mirror Repurposed   4. Patterned Sofa Table

5. DIY Wooden Tote Redo   6. DIY Jewelry Storage   7. Oval Rosette Mirror

I’ll be back tomorrow sharing how I gave this old TJ Maxx piece new life:

Thrift store find that I turned into the perfect necklace holder

UPDATE: You’re in luck! You can see it HERE now! 🙂

XOXO,

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If you like what you see, there are several ways to follow along!

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I love to share at these great parties:

 The Happy Housie Design Dining and Diapers Liz Marie Blog Funky Junk Interiors Savvy Southern Style Tatertots and Jello DIY Show Off  Between Naps on the Porch  Just a Girl and Her Blog Sand and Sisal Interior Frugalista

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Comments

  1. Hi Christy! Taking the second drawer out and making a shelf was sure the way to go with this piece. I can see why that darn thang was only five dollars, but what a buy! Great job! And thanks for sharing your friends creations!

  2. Love this piece! Three questions: Did you make the Behr paint into chalk paint or use it as regular latex? Is the paint flat or satin? Is there wax or any other protective finish on it?

    • Thanks, Mari! I did make it into chalk paint, and I like to use flat for that. Then I sealed it with Annie Sloan’s clear wax. If I didn’t plan to sand the edges here and there, I would have used regular satin latex which would need no sealer for a piece like this. Hope that helps! I updated the post with that info as well. 🙂

  4. I know it was a lot of work but it looks great! Love the colour & it certainly looks like the space had always been there.

    • Thanks so much, Shirley! I saw your beautiful hutch come up again on the FB site…I can’t believe that hasn’t sold…wish I had a place for it!! XO

    • Thanks, Jen!! I wish I had room for it in my son’s room, but we just bought him a bed with huge drawers underneath to make more room in there! And yes, Pete the cat rocks. 😉

  12. i love the bead boarding in the back..super cute touch and it really brings the whole nautical theme together. What is the color of the dress…is it a darker white or a grey….hard to tell on a computer screen..i really do like the color combo you chose!

  13. You have done it again. That is just the cutest little chest. You never disappoint.

  14. Another great solution to a big problem. I remember when I was young and would take on something like this; not anymore though. I am saving those for you.

    • Ha ha! Thanks, Carole! I did this to myself I guess…I really do try not to take on projects that need a lot of work these days, but this one was kinda fun to do. 🙂

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