Don’t buy new. Refresh the old! That is what one person was looking to do on an old dresser her Grandpa had made.

I’m a bad blogger. I don’t have a single before picture. But, both the dresser and nightstand were painted entirely white. The dresser was super chipped up. The top of it was peeling in the back and the outside of the edges of the drawers were pretty chipped as well. Rather than trying to do a shoddy repair job, we decided to work with the flaws and make them pop. After all, this dresser is decades old.

I added wood filler to some parts of the back to fill in the chipping wood, but left other parts naturally chipped and distressed around the edges. A lot of the original white peeks through the edges.

I distressed the top and edges in a way that if the original finish peels off and takes the new paint with it, it will only add to the look rather than detract from it.

Mis-matching knobs add some contemporary flair, while the original handles keep the old world charm.

The nightstand got the same new look and one of the original knobs from the dresser to tie the two pieces together. Two coats of paint were stripped off the top and I re-stained it in a dark walnut finish. I added two coats of Annie Sloan Dark Wax to seal the top.

If you’re wondering, both pieces are painted in ASCP, Old Ochre with a mix of clear and dark wax!