Refinishing a FREE dresser for my home!

Happy Monday! I’m still living off the dose of energy our beach trip gave us … the kids are talking about the ocean and fun nonstop! Plus, I just finished our Master Bedroom redesign and Herring bone accent wall project and am stoked to showcase that next week … and today I have our dresser from our master I want to showcase! Seriously – I’ll show you my refinishing of a FREE dresser for my home … which is being used in our master bedroom. Can’t get much better than free!

But, before I get started on my refinishing a free dresser for my home, I want to share a couple more pictures from our beach trip. These kids are sure adorable. I just can’t get over the blessings that they are!

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Moving on to the FREE dresser makeover

Now on to that free dresser. Seriously, it was FREE. We purchased a home a few years ago (before we sold it and moved into our current home) and the prior owner was downsizing and left some furniture for us. This piece was a nice solid piece that was perfect for an up-do. The curves and height were perfect for a master bedroom and I could style it as I pleased.

I wanted this piece to match the bookshelf I showcased in my last blog post here, so I went with the cotton white from Sherwin Williams for the main color and General Finishes gray gel stain for the top.

Getting started

As with every refinishing or makeover project, I first remove all hardware and then give the piece a really good cleaning. This is a critical foundational step to refinishing, so take note! Then, I sand the top a bit to remove the shininess. Since I’ll be using a gel stain, it isn’t required to sand down to the natural wood. You can put the stain over top of the existing finish…although sanding down gives it a true stained look!

I also grab my orbital sander and sand the shell of the dresser and the drawer fronts. It goes quickly since the machine is doing all the work!

Get stain time!

Now I’m ready to do my gray gel stain. I grab and old sock and apply the gel stain to the top of the dresser. I give it a couple coats and look for any streaks and cover those as I go. Looking at the drawers, I decide I’ll apply a coat of gel stain on the outside and inside of the drawers (not the drawer faces, but the body of the drawers).

Coloring the inside of drawers is a simple way to achieve a high impact result on the finished project. I showcase a few times I’ve done that here. And the drawers look extra cool when you open them!

I Kilz it, every time!

With the gel stain done, it’s time to primer the drawer fronts and the dresser top. I use Kilz primer and apply it to all the pieces. As you can see, I apply a good coat and then I let it dry thoroughly. The primer makes a good foundation for the paint to stick to.

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Cotton White time!

I grab my Cotton White surface paint and apply four thin coats to the dresser and drawers. I let each coat dry well before beginning the next one. Thin coats with ample drying time are also key to make sure the paint adheres properly and lasts a long time!

Clearcoat for the win!

After all the stain and paint are applied and dried, it’s time to protect your work. I use my favorite General Finishes gel topcoat for the dresser top. I apply three good coats to protect against all the action the top of a dresser seems to get.

Next, I apply three satin poly coats to the drawer fronts and dresser bottom. This will protect it from natural hits a movement, so it’ll last us a long time. So far, it’s been through a move and three years of wear so far … can’t even find a scratch or chip yet!

Finishing up!

Lastly, I install new hardware to modernize the look … and that’s how I refinished a FREE dresser for my home!

Look how beautiful this dresser turned out? It’s really a great piece for our master bedroom. It’s a tall piece that looks amazing and is functional with all its drawers. It coordinates with the bookshelf and compliments our room.

Just wait till you see the full master bedroom makeover reveal teased about here. This herring bone wall is super awesome!

Did you score a free piece of furniture that you want to makeover? Let me know in the comments below!

Be blessed!