The end...almost

Dear Mike,

I am almost finished with that dresser I needed your help with. Why is it with every project I undertake the last bit of work takes the longest to complete?  I just need to fix the mirror and the dresser is done, done, done.  (It will probably take me another 5 years to get the mirror back on the dresser...)

Shall we take a look at some before, during and after pictures?  Actually, this is my blog and you have to look at photos, I just ask to be polite.

I don't think I told you the full story of how this dresser became mine.  I saw this lovely, old, serpentine front dresser on Craigslist.  I was so excited, I'd been searching for this dresser style for years!  When I emailed the seller she said she already had a buyer coming to look at the dresser...I was too late. I was a little disappointed but figured I didn't really have time for a project and let it go.  The next week I was wasting a bit of time on Craigslist again and saw the exact. same. dresser?  Except the seller was about 50 miles closer to me...how could this be?  I quickly emailed the seller and made arrangements to see the dresser.  Turns out, the new seller had bought the dresser I had seen the week before.  When she got the dresser home she thought it was too big of a project and put the dresser back up for sale.  Enter me: a naive do-it-yourself-er with a grand notion of accomplishing a project with 5 children running around...  The woman selling the dresser was so sweet.  She gave me some wood working tips and helped me lug the dresser into my van.  We swapped email addresses so I could send her pictures of the finished project.  Over all, it was one of those super-nice Craigslist experiences.  The dresser was priced well and the seller was a nice person (lucky me!).



Once the dresser was home I took down a laundry list of the problems: the mirror weighed a ton and the supports were rusty and ancient, all of the drawers were coming apart, one of the drawers was split on the bottom, there was water damage on the top and one of the casters on the front was completely broken.  All this fix-it work was in addition to the paint-and-make-pretty work I actually wanted to do...  Only mildly daunted, I set to work.

 
I removed the hardware, washed all the surfaces and did my best work shoring up the broken drawers.  Many thanks to your advise and knowledge Mike!  Then it was on to the work of sanding...my arms hurt just thinking about all the sanding... I wanted the finish to be as smooth as possible.  Then I picked out my paint.  I briefly considered not painting the dresser...briefly.  You agreed, painting the dresser would be sacrilege and a friend said I should absolutely not paint the dresser.  Alas, that friend lives on a tropical island and I figured the sun and sand would comfort her disappointment if I painted a wood dresser.  You are my brother and the familial relationship will have to be your comfort for any disappointment caused by a painted dresser.

I decided to give Annie Sloan Chalk paint a try.  Have you heard of it?  Google it, there are plenty of testimonials and tutorials on the paint.  I decided to use it because it was reported to adhere to any surface without sanding or priming.  I was sanding anyway but figured it couldn't hurt to use a paint that promised to adhere if my sand job was not perfect.  Annie Sloan paint is more costly than regular paint and after this project I decided it was not worth the cost.  Yes, I did not have to buy primer but it was still more expensive than paint and primer.  Yes, I saved time but I don't know if that saved time was worth the extra cost.  The only thing I'd have to say was worth it in using the Annie Sloan paint was that the paint dried very quickly--about 20 minutes.  So I could put on multiple coats of paint in one day and touch-ups were easily made.  The chalk paint is suppose to be used with a wax (which is as costly as the paint).  The wax is supposed to be absorbed into the paint after the paint drys.  I waxed one drawer and the top of the dresser but did not like the texture it gave the painted surface.  For the other drawers and sides of the dresser, I sanded and then polished the paint with a dry cloth.  The texture of the unwaxed surfaces is smooth and lovely--I like it much more than the waxed portions.  You can see a bit of sheen on the bottom drawer in the picture below, I used the wax on that drawer.


Once the painting was done I tried out some new hardware for the dresser pulls.  I couldn't decide which ones I liked the most so I used them all.  I had to go back and cover up the extra holes from the previous drawer pulls.  There are some weird patches in color where the holes were patched.  If I could do it all over again I would have taken care of those holes first...but I didn't know I was going to change the drawer pulls...so...eh.


Here it is, as finished as it is going to get for a little while.  The mirror is still on my to-do list but for now this is the view I get when I walk in my front door.  It makes me pretty happy...  I even found a decorative block with my favorite word on it "no".  I say "no" all the time.  Once I read an article about how parents should say "yes" more often to their children and I thought: "no".  There is a "yes" printed on the other side of the block and one of my cheekier children (Lorien, for sure) is always switching it around.  I don't mind, I still say "no" all the time.

Thanks for all your help and answering my questions Mike.  I really appreciate it.

Lots of Love,
Cassie