Dresser Makeover

Family heirlooms are one of my favorites - they remind of us of our loved ones near and far away.  However, sometimes they need a makeover like this one:

I wish I had a better "before" picture but my mom has been in town and using the dresser. I snapped this picture as a point of reference before heading to Lowe's to pick out some paint. I have painted a few things around the house but I wanted to be very careful with this dresser that belonged to my grandfather. I turned to Centsational Girl's blog (Kate) for some professional tips and was inspired by this DIY transformation.

I started by removing all the hardware and sanding down all the pieces. This dresser was in desperate need of some TLC! 

I used wood filler to patch some different spots. This large area on the top of the dresser was severely damaged and required a little more work.

Instead of purchasing the primer Kate recommends, I purchased a good quality paint with a primer included in it and that worked fine. 

The hardest part was trying to get the paint in all those tiny crevices!

The hardware was very outdated so I purchased some new knobs.

 I love the keyholes on this piece and am hoping one of the old skeleton keys I have will work in it. How neat would that be?!

Unfortunately, there is not protective top coat on the dresser. I tried the Miniwax Polycrylic that Kate suggested but it yellowed my paint job and I had to re-sand and repaint...not fun :(  Do you have any suggestions??

I have to say I am thrilled with how the dresser turned out. Next up is a chest of drawers. I'll post that once I get another spare mommy moment :)

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