Mid-Century Modern Dresser Makeover

Heads up. For this post I worked with my buddies over at HomeRight who provided me both the sprayer and the shelter. My opinions and posts are all me though.

I'm sooooo ready to move ya'll! You know when a move is approaching and all cares about your current abode die in a pathetic pile of apathy along with your motivation to mow the grass or desire to get that grape that just rolled under the fridge? I'm living there right now. It's bad, people. Bad. Exhibit A: my hoarded-out garage.

A actually giggled when I watermarked this picture. Like the demand to steal it will be high. Better be on the safe side. ;) This is the aftermath of every box I've scavenged from the work garbage pile in the past few months, paired with various thrifted furniture pieces all meshed together like a giant game of Garage-Tetris. The boxes are for moving obviously (no giant cardboard DIY in the works as of yet) and for almost a year now I've been collecting and planning how our furniture will be in the new house. Included in those plans is this mid-century dresser I picked up at Salvation Army for $60. Sometime last year I lived out the drama of buying this beauty live on Facebook (originally priced around $125). It's a fun read.

My plans have always been to buy one of these suckers and use it as a console table behind our couch. Since our couch will be "floating" in the middle of the room, this winds up being front and center  when you enter our front door. The pressure was high (from an always skeptical husband who after all these years still isn't 100% confident in my DIY visions) to make it awesome. 

And, he was a little bit justified in his cautious skepticism. There was quite a bit of damage to the veneer on top.

Both sides and the middle were missing large chunks. However, besides being dirty and dusty, the drawers and legs were in great shape.

Since I knew I wanted to paint the top and sides, I didn't bother replacing the missing veneer. Instead, I removed what wasn't securely attached and re-glued the rest back down. Then I filled the missing sections with wood filler. I've used several kinds before. This time I went with the new Elmer's purple variety (dries white).

It worked really well. Went on very smooth (sometimes wood filler can be a little gritty). The kids even helped a bit. Kaley takes her supervisor roll seriously. And it's Florida, we never wear shoes. I'm surprised he's wearing a shirt (however it is a swim shirt, haha).

Once that was dry, I gave all the parts that were going to be receiving paint a light sanding... hence, crazy sanding eyes. Did I mention I got LASIK a couple months ago? How's it look? Getting off topic...

Then, I moved the entire thing to the backyard inside my new HomeRight spray shelter. I don't know if me or my neighbors are happier that I got this thing. I never realized how much paint I was wasting just spraying out in the open backyard. This takes the wind factor out and keeps the paint on my piece... not on my neighbors patio. (sorry bout that!) Also, funny thing happens in a tent in Florida in July... it gets hot. Real hot. Like I created a giant furniture oven. So not only did my paint dry almost instantly, I think I lost 5 lbs too. Bonus! :)

Once I got the dresser inside, I taped off the areas where I didn't want paint. That included the legs on which I use aluminum foil. Many DIY projects and rolls of tape later I learned that foil works amazing when you need to cover up weirdly shaped things. You're welcome.

Then I prepped my sprayer. This is the first time I have ever used a paint sprayer. I went the HomeRight route because I'd heard such great things about the finish a spryer produces from other bloggers. And like I said before, this piece is going to be in the center of my living room. I figured it was worth a shot. I followed the directions to set everything up (it was pretty quick). Thinning my paint took the longest and it didn't even take that long. Home Right provides a little plastic funnel that helps you determine if your paint is the right viscosity. I used exterior paint plus stain blocking primer in one. I was thinking durability. 

Then I began with one light coat after another. I did sand very quickly and lightly between them with a foam sanding block. I think I must have done 5-8 coats. But like I said, they were drying almost instantly and the sprayer works so fast, one coat probably took less than a minute. Super fast! I think I have told everyone that I will never go back to a brush for furniture. Just the time factor alone has me sold. The smooth-as-buttah finish is really just a bonus. :)

So that's it. The rest of the piece just got a good cleaning and some Old English oil and it looks brand new. My "new" dresser/console table has currently bumped our old sofa table out of it's spot in our foyer while it waits for it's spot on the moving truck. I didn't dare drag it back into the Garage-Tetris chaos with it's new fresh finish.

I'd say the hype was right. HomeRight Finish Max for the win. I would have never gotten this finish with a brush. Even if I had sanded my arms off. I can't wait to move it into its new spot... soon!