Hello, gorgeous friends! After packing away our Halloween display over the weekend, I was left with very little time to create, so while I did bring you this pretty wooden storage box on Tuesday, today I’ve got a fantastic rerun for you! I’m sharing a gorgeous dresser I got from a friend that was desperately in need of a makeover. (The dresser, not the friend ha ha!) It’s the perfect candidate to share how to remove veneer the easy way!

Painted Empire Dresser

This dresser is an empire style dresser and it is absolutely HUGE:

One of my dearest friends reached out to me to ask if I was interested in this dresser that her boyfriend was selling.

In the picture, it looked to be in decent shape and it didn’t look nearly as large as it is in person. I rarely turn down a good deal on an antique, so I said of course!

This Dresser had all the issues!

This dresser had lots of issues that cannot be seen in one cell phone photo. It had missing, loose, and cracked veneer all over and the lovely aroma of a 100 year old musty dresser.

I’ve included a few affiliate links so you can find the products I love.

Don’t shy away from a piece like this. All the issues do have solutions. You just have to take it one step at a time.

Remove/Repair Veneer

The first thing I did was tackle all the veneer issues.

The drawer fronts appeared to be gorgeous wood, but it was just veneer and was warping and splitting across the larger two drawers:

There was no real way to save that, so it had to go.

The same goes for the smaller drawers across the top…

How to Remove Veneer the Easy Way

If you’ve ever spent a couple of hours with a metal putty knife trying to pry up veneer only to end up with a bunch of gouges on the surface, there is an easier way!

Some of the veneer on this piece did come off easily, but there were more stubborn areas that were stuck on there good!

To remove stubborn veneer, lay old towels on those places and pour water over the towels until they are soaked.

That is exactly what I did here and then left them to sit like that overnight…

The next morning, I was able to pull the veneer off in large pieces.

The side panel was just loose, and I was able to glue that back in place with wood glue. I clamped it to secure it until it was dry:

Clean

Next up was a good cleaning!

This thing was so dirty, especially inside the cavity of the dresser which was filled with dust. I vacuumed that up with my shop vac before cleaning the rest with White Lightning using a terry cloth pad:

I mixed one TBSP of White Lightning with a half gallon of warm water to clean, and then swapped out the very dirty water for clean water and wiped everything down once more. It preps your furniture beautifully!

White Lightning is a degreaser and deglosser and gloves are recommended.

Fill the holes

Next up, I filled a couple of areas that needed filling as well as the holes where the original knobs had been since they were huge compared to what I would need for the new pulls I found.

To do that, I enlisted the help of Dixie Mud:

I let that dry overnight to be sure it was good and dry.

Sand

Then, I sanded those areas and the rest of the drawers where the veneer had been using my rotary sander, as well as the top since I had plans to stain that part:

I vacuumed up all the sanding dust with my shop vac and wiped everything down with a clean, soft cloth.

Getting Rid of the Musty Odor

Next, it was time to tame that musty odor.

To do that, I got out my clear BOSS (Now Bonding BOSS) and got to work brushing it onto every surface of the inside cavity of this dresser:

Bonding BOSS works SO WELL on odors, y’all! But, you have to cover all the surfaces that won’t be painted. It will seal in all those nasty odors. (It will leave a slight haze on darker wood, so only use on the exterior if you plan to paint.)

This is water based, so NO STRONG ODORS like shellac. The clear Bonding BOSS likes to separate over time, but just give it a good shake or stir before using.

Paint

I chose Dixie Belle’s Caviar for this piece which is a true, perfect black that I applied with my Dixie Belle Mini brush (although the mini angle is my favorite!):

I gave everything two coats.

I had originally stained the top, but I had a change of heart once it was done. I chose Walnut No Paint Gel Stain, which is a lovely, rich color:

This combination is fantastic, but it just felt too masculine for the look I was going for.

I needed to let it sit for three days to fully dry, and then I painted over it in Caviar. Luckily, I had started on this piece early!

Sand

Chalk paint has a bit of texture to it, but just the lightest sanding with 220 grit sandpaper all over will make it super smooth. I like to wrap it around an old foam sanding sponge to make it easier to handle.

I did that here being sure to hit the edges a bit more as I love the look of wood coming through the black.

I sanded the drawers also and then vacuumed up any sanding dust with my shop vac once again:

Don’t be scared that your finish now looks like a gray nightmare!

The sealer will make it sing again, I promise!

I wiped the surface down again with a clean, soft cloth to remove any lingering dust.

Transfer time

I knew I wanted to embellish this dresser with a transfer for this dresser and I found just the one!

This is Flower Collector:

Because my dresser was super wide, I cut the transfer apart and used it a bit differently than it is laid out just to make it a bit wider at the top.

See all those marks left from burnishing the transfer? Those will all disappear when you seal.

**This transfer is currently no longer available, however, a good alternative if you like this look is the Queen’s Glory Middy Transfer, or if you like a shinier gold, the larger Perfume Notes transfer.**

Redesign transfers are often limited run only, so these transfers may no longer be available if you are viewing long after the posting date. See all the transfers I have available HERE. 

After adding this transfer, I pulled out another…the White Magnolia Transfer:

You can keep adding and layering these any way you like! I ended up using one whole set and about a half of another on this large piece.

Seal

Finally, it was time to seal this thing!

With darker pieces, you can get a “ghosting” effect when you rub you finger over the final surface.

To prevent that, I added a just a drop or two of the Caviar to my Satin Clear Coat. (I actually dipped my stir stick into the Caviar a bit and then stirred it right into the Clear Coat, but that would be equal to about two drops…just enough to tint the Clear Coat.)

I used a blue sponge applicator to apply it…

Cutting one or both of the edges of the sponge makes it easy to get right up against flat edges like the tops of dressers.

Are you ready to see how this heavy, masculine empire dresser turned out??

So much better!!

I had put off this makeover for so long because I knew the work involved, but I was so thrilled to finally have it done!

Looking at it now, it was a steal for $75! I was thinking that was a bit much lol…I need to stop being so cheap!

And although this isn’t typically my favorite style of furniture, the curvy details are so striking in this sleek black…

One thing I love about this white magnolia transfer is that they stayed nice and bright over the black…

And how about that gorgeous hardware?

The top didn’t have pulls originally, but these glass ones from Hobby Lobby were just perfect and really fit the style of this dresser:

They were originally more of a dark bronze color, but I wanted gold, so Gold Gilding Wax to the rescue!

For the larger drawers, I needed something very large and these were just what I was looking for!

I found these at Hobby Lobby also.

 

The Drawers

The drawers rarely go untouched and these definitely needed some love, so the smaller drawers got painted in Silk Endless Shore:

I did apply white Bonding BOSS on these first to prevent any bleed through.

I used some of the White Magnolia transfer on the larger middle drawer:

The two larger drawers were painted in Caviar and I used some of the Flower Collector transfer on one of them:

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this one! What do you think about painting the stained top black instead? Was it the right decision?

What you can’t see

Due to settling over time, the top drawer needed to be lifted a bit in order to pull out the bottom drawer. When I took it to my booth, I ended up including a note in the top drawer saying that it had come to me in desperate need of some TLC and that I brought it back as well as I could, including instructions on how to get that bottom drawer to open. I also said that I hoped someone would come along who loved it and would cherish it, flaws and all.

A Happy Ending to this Makeover story

A couple of weeks in, I got a call from a gentleman about it. He wanted me to know that he and his wife had fallen in love with it, saying it was the first piece they had found that they both agreed on. I was so happy! So now it has a happy home!

If you enjoyed today’s makeover, you’ll surely enjoy this one too:

I’ll be back with my Trashy Treasure ladies, Nancy and Denise, on Tuesday sharing this little table:

UPDATE: You won’t believe how CUTE this one turned out! See it HERE now!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

XOXO,

 

 

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