Old Dresser turned Changing Table

I found this old dresser on Craigslist and the seller just so happened to live down the road from our church.  We stopped by after church and picked it right up!  We had been searching for a dresser that we could turn into a changing table.  We researched the different size changing pads to make sure it would fit and still have room for a lamp and a little basket of other changing essentials.  The goal was to keep the entire project under $50.

 

  Sold for $20!!!

The original plan was to paint the dresser a fun turquoise blue color but as Hubs and I were sanding we discovered that this piece was completely solid wood.  It's kind of rare that the top would be wood (how much wood would a woodchuck chuck...) because usually when you find lower price pieces the top is MDF or press board.  So we sat there for a minute (or ten) and decided it would be more economical to stain it a similar color to the crib. 

I applied a wood conditioner with a brush and let it dry for about 30 minutes or so.  Then I applied a Polyshade by Minwax with my new Purdy brush.  (Like all that name dropping?)



The key is to use long strokes so you don't have lines.  I love using Polyshades because then you don't have to go back at the very end and do a coat of polyurethane.  I ended up doing 3 coats total to get it to the color I wanted.

 (like all the junk?  Just keepin' it real)

Then began the hardware saga.  My original plan was to go with something like this:

It was 2 1/2 inches long.  Bought 8 of them, hubs went to put them on, they don't fit.  Then I bought ones like this in 3 inch:

 

Then I went to put those on and guess what, yup, you're right, they didn't fit either!  BLAST!

I remeasured the holes from the previous handles and found out that the space between them was 2 3/4 inches.  I didn't remember seeing that option in the store so to Google I went.  Come to find out a lot of furniture made in the 1960s used that size and they don't really make them anymore.  DOUBLE BLAST!

Back to the drawing board.  I guess the original hardware isn't that bad, kind of looks like it wants to be Greek Key?  Maybe?  If you look really hard?  So I devised a plan involving Rub n Buff. 

I used Silver Leaf and Spanish Copper.  In the past I had only used Silver Leaf but I didn't want it to look soooo silver.

I had never mixed 2 colors of Rub N Buff together before so I followed this tutorial.  For some reason the RNB got clumpy and didn't dry correctly.  Maybe it's due to the metal I was applying it to or maybe it was operator error?  So I used the Deglosser and removed all of it and then just mixed the 2 colors of RNB together and applied it by hand (with a glove on of course).  After it sat for a few hours I took a rag and buffed it.  This was easier for me and seemed to work quite well.

Ahhhhh (not just saw a shark Ah but rather noise you make after drinking a glass of pink lemonade).  Much better. 

Cost Breakdown:

Dresser- $20

Rub N Buff- $2 (had to buy the copper, already had the silver)

Stain- already had

Wood Conditioner- already had

TOTAL COST: $22

Furniture for Grandma Doris

We have these friends that we claim as family.  We usually go on vacation with them every summer and have a blast.  Their grandma's name is Doris and she is a riot.  They got wind that I'm into furniture and she asked me to redo this ooooollllllddddd piece that she had.  It's an end table that was her mother's.  It had an awful ring on the top of it where someone had over watered a plant a few too many times.  Her only request is that it be stained Mahogony to make it look like it used too. 

*please use your imagination on what the table looked like before...forgot to take a pic*

After a couple hours (yes hours) of sanding I wiped it down and then applied a wood conditioner.  I was going to use some polystain I had already but wouldn't you know it that when I opened the can it had congealed.  Darn the bad luck.  Off to Home Depot I went.  It took 2 coats everywhere but 3 coats on the top and middle section. 

Hopefully this is what Grandma Doris was looking for!

Furniture for a Friend

My co-worker had a piece of unfinished furniture she wanted me to finish.  Here it is before:

Most of it was just wood but then there were areas that had a white wash on it.  Have you ever tried to sand off white wash?  Oh my.  HATE.  Anyways, she wanted it stained a very dark brown so we used Minwax Red Mahogany stain.  Before I applied the stain (but after I sanded it) I applied a wood conditioner to the entire piece.  I waited about 20 minutes and then applied the stain.  It went on quite well.  The only problem is it took FOREVER.  It has been sooooo hot and humid here and so it maybe that has something to do with it?  I stained it on Thursday and it still wasn't dry on Monday. 

I needed to put another coat on but I didn't like how matte it looked.  I had some other stain in the garage that I had used on a previous project and I decided to apply that over the dark red mahogany stain.  It was Minwax Polyshade, "Olde Maple Gloss".  This did the trick.  It gave it the right amount of sheen.  It will also help when she will have to dust it (ew, dusting).


Here it is all finished: