Van, here is the dresser I need help with

[melmax]

edited post, so go to the next one....

[melmax]

Anyone with ideas on how I should refinish this, please feel free to chime in, I have had this for about 10 years and who ever had it prior put many burn marks on the top.

This is like the one I have, but no mirror.

[jen_nah]

Originally Posted by melmax

Anyone with ideas on how I should refinish this, please feel free to chime in, I have had this for about 10 years and who ever had it prior put many burn marks on the top.

This is like the one I have, but no mirror.

Oh the possibilities are endless. I love to refinish furniture and have been doing it for a while now.

The room that this dresser will be used in what is the decor/color scheme? I loved distressed/stained look personally myself. You can do this with just about any color. Since it has burn marks it will need a good sanding if you were to just re-stain it. The nice thing about painting a coat of primer and no body will know.

[melmax]

Where it is right now the bedroom colors are an antique white, that is what I keep thinking of doing with this. I had shined up the old handles but they look really bad now, so I will replace them. I redid a night stand that was already painted ( pretty ugly like- white and pink) with the antique white and added dark handles. I had bought a dark stain for this and I was going to put shinny brass handles on it, but them I really decided I don't want the shinny handles. I have see some pieces done with the body painted and the top is left as the wood.
I just don't know.....

[jen_nah]

Mel,

My good friend refinishes furniture like Van does. I was looking at her Facebook page (M Street Design) and she too has the same dresser she is about to redo.

If you like the current style & design of your dressers hardware spray paint them. I have done this many times with great results with no issues (dresser & 2 desks in kids bedrooms).

Here is some of her work to give you some ideas. I think having a piece or 2 that stand out (painted a different color) is really neat personally. If I hadn't spent and arm and leg on our bedroom furniture I would so redo my dresser.

[DC Lady]

I am in the middle of a stalled project doing the same thing with a $5 yardsale dresser...
it will be beautiful when I am done (I hope).
I am using chalk paint and distressing a bit then waxing.....
I am sanding and re-staining the wood top.

[melmax]

I like your idea about the hardware, I had wondered about if the paint would stay on, but if not it's an easy fix...I am going to do that. I also like, really like your friends ideas, even the blue would be nice with the top stained a dark color and then maybe spray paint the hardware a deep brown/black...or a little of both?
Most of my furniture I have picked up at CCA, I love having the mixed items and styles in my home.

[van]

Hey Melmax. Sorry, I got your pm but was travelling.

You can either restain it......huge job
Or paint it.... reletively easy job.

Restaining would mean youd have to strip the existing stain, and then sand down to make sure it is ALL removed. This is very labor intensive. If you have this is the garage, with this heat, would take a few weeks

Painting it is easy. Go get a good sanding block. Go at the finish (sand in direction of the grain). You are wanting to rough up or "tooth" the surface. Depending on final "Look" you want, if you just use an oil base paint and do a couple thin coats, you can by pass the priming stage. Oil paint will "stick", just do the coats thin. Use a foam roller, this will keep paint thin and even. Do 2 to 3 coats (they need 24hrs to dry), lightly sanding in between.

Once you have a good finish, if you want to distress it, lightly sand off the corners off the drawers, that always looks good. Make sure to buy some new foam thingi-ma-jigs to stick on back of drawers to prevent them from chipping when closed.

Easy peesy. I love that blue color Jen nah posted. I will say, if you have white furniture in the room already, matching a white can be a PITA. If its a brighter white, it will make the other furniture look icky. Liven the room up, make it a centre piece and go with a totally different color. You could also stencil some fun designs on it if you wanted . At Home Depot they have some fun stencils in the Martha Stewart section.

Have fun with it!

[melmax]

What do ya thinks?

Picture did not upload, I will try again later...sorry