A challenger appears!

Every once in a while, an opportunity presents itself when I'm between projects.  I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but this little beauty stuck out on the drive home.

Oh, hai.

This poor dresser was discarded on the side of the road in anticipation of trash day.  Although it was missing the bottom three drawers, an idea came to mind that wouldn't require them.  I called the husband and we hauled it on home.

This dingy, dirty, drawerless dresser had seen better days cosmetically, but had decent bones and a ton of personality in the decorative trim and scrolled front.

Real dressers have curves!

She's got legs... she knows how to reuse them.

Ooh, what have we here?

I was relieved to find I could unscrew the handles in order to paint the remaining drawer, and even more pleased to discover a beautiful patina finish underneath the gooped-on paint.  Who covers up this kind of hardware??

Bad pic, but these are a pretty greenish patina!

After a thorough cleaning and a few coats of an off-white spray paint, I had a new entertainment unit for the basement!  The missing drawers left room for electronics, and the fiber-board backing was easy to drill through for cords and such.

Small, medium and large.

That's how you celebrate a completed project - with a LOtR marathon.

Dresser Dresser on the wall...

In desperate need of new dressers to hold my schtuff, I sought these out on Craigslist.

Hi, I'm Chester, and I'll be your project this weekend.

I wasn't a fan of the color, but this solid wood dresser and matching nightstands had character and room to hold my clothes (which were overspilling the two tiny closets and shoddy Rubbermaid bins they were stuffed into).  Despite the massive size I managed to load all three pieces into my Kia Spectra and haul them across town.

I decided to go balls out on this one - strip, sand and refinish.  Try to restore these to their former glory if possible.  I didn't know what I was getting myself into.  Applying the paint thinner revealed the history of these pieces:

Black on White on Pink on Wood. Yikes

Three coats of paint masked the wood underneath.  I ended up making several trips to the hardware store for more thinner and supplies.  This was a BEAST and a half.  What I had hoped would be a weekend project became a test of endurance and a month-long "when I have time" side note.  Frustration abounded, but the end result was worth it.  Let's see how we got there:

This was my WTF am I doing chaos realization photo.

Partially stripped detail at top

Dresser mostly stripped

Great detail on the legs/corners, but a PITA to strip and clean out.  Toothbrushes helped

See what I mean?  Hello pinkish goopy mess.

  

But they're so pretty - very classic shape and beautiful hardware.

Nightstand mostly stripped

Stripped and sanded, ready for varnish!

Ta-da!  I love how the stain came out on these - I think it was called "Bombay" and it totally fit.  I could see these pieces chilling in a Caribbean retreat amid palm trees and bright tropical flowers.

Side view - love it.

From the top - my imperfect hand sanding gave the surface an unintended gradient, but I like it - adds flair.