🖼️
The project:
We picked up this hall dresser from the roadside during a council cleanup and decided to give it a country makeover to use in a guest room in our rural property.
- Materials:
30 mm premium plywood - Project panels
Dulux 1 step prep, primer, sealer and undercoat - Undercoat
British paints water based semi gloss in colour Mossy Road - British paints
Cabot’s stain and Varnish in tint Suburbia - Cabot’s stain
- Tools:
screwdriver
Craftright staple gun - Staple gun
Sand block and sandpaper sheets
Cordless sander - Cordless sander
- Step 1:
The dresser had one broken leg and a corner off the top had cracked off. These were glued on and repaired using a wood glue.
The old mirror backing was water damaged and warped leaving the mirror loose and nearly falling off . The backing was removed and the mirror was taken out of the frame. Any screws and handles were removed to allow for easier sanding and painting and the dresser was separated into pieces. The frame was lightly sanded using sanding sheets and a sanding block just to take the old finish off. The top shelf was sanded using a cordless detail sander.
- Step 2:
The frame was painted with a coat of Dulux one step , primer sealer and undercoat. The top shelf was left bare at this stage and masking tape was used to stop any of the primer getting onto it.
- Step 3:
Three coats were painted onto the frame using British paints water based semi gloss in colour Mossy Road. This paint was recommended by Bunnings paint team as it is more durable for use on furniture. Two coats would probably have been enough but I decided to do the extra coat for a smoother finish.
The top shelf was stained with Cabot’s Stain and varnish tinted Suburbia. This was a stain that we already had for another project and gave a lovely deep chocolate colour. Once dry I rubbed the top shelf over with a beeswax to provide a smooth finish and a gorgeous smell.
- Step 4:
We used the old mirror backing as a template to trace on a new sheet of 3mm premium plywood. We were able to cut out the simple arch shape using a Stanley knife and a small saw blade. The mirror and the backing were reattached to the frame using the Craftright staple gun. The dresser was screwed back together and the handles returned to drawers.
The dresser was added to a guest room in our rural property. The colours give it a country look, it gives guests a mirror to use and baskets were added to store things such as spare towels for guests to use. Best of all we saved a piece of furniture from land fill that still has a lot of life in it.
