Every week, I peruse craigslist to see if there is any great furniture in the immediate area that would be worth buying. There almost never is. But, last month I came across a fabulous dresser for sale in La Verne. The price was right, the location was doable and I thought I’d give it a shot. I called the guy and offered full price with ability for immediate pick up, but I never heard back. Then, about three weeks later on a Saturday morning, I just happened to be yard saling in La Verne when the owner of the dresser called me back to ask me if I was still interested. I could barely remember what it looked like, but he lived right down the street from where I was so I made a detour to go check it out. It became the second item I’ve ever purchased from craigslist.
I didn’t waste much time working on it. The first step involved stripping the paint off the top to reveal the natural wood…an intimidating and grueling task, I might add.
I used an all natural citristrip aerosol spray for the top. I was so pleased when I first started using it. The paint literally started to bubble and peel right off. At first. Then, it got hard. The paint was saturated deep into the wood and became harder to strip. In fact, the picture above was my “finished” shot. But, when I stained it, paint deep in the wood grain was still peeking through.
Patti offered to finish it as I had at this point invested ten hours in the stripping job and was completely over it.
And thank heavens for that.
This is what she came up with!
sigh. Isn’t it just lovely?
The mirror itself swivels into a desired position. And the detailing on the frame and mirror itself are GORGEOUS!
Original hardware on the drawers without the original back plates and a “pop” with a large crystal knob on the middle drawer with the detailing.
And, the biggest pain of the neck…the surface. Stripped of its paint and re-stained with dark walnut.
Success is right! The dresser is beautiful.
Janet
The dresser came out great. I understand about projects becoming overwhelming sometimes. Everything seems to take way more time than we initially imagine. Your dresser is a winner for sure. I need to start visiting Craigslist.
Lynn
Looks amazing!
I love how this turned out! Great find too.
I hardly ever find anything worth traveling for on craigslist, but I know there are some real treasures out there! Thank-you for reading!
You did a beautiful job, very inspirational! You’re right the detailing is beautiful. I really like your wall treatment btw.