Dresser Redo

A few months ago I was perusing craigslist at 10:00 at night, and came across this ad for a free dresser and nightstands. It had no picture and just said that it was out on the curb for the taking so I figured it was nothing special but nonetheless, I asked Devin to run over and see if it was still there, and if it was in good shape, to please bring it home for me. He detests these projects of mine because they take up garage space and even though I always say I'll finish it quickly, it usually takes a few months. BUT...he went and got them for me anyway. I was asleep when he got home so he just unloaded them onto the driveway and the next morning when I was loading kids up for errands I found them! Oh my, I couldn't have been more excited. They were so much more than I was expecting, all curvy and cute and in really great shape, just begging for a good coat of spray paint.

Well, fast forward a few months(Devin was right) and I am just now finishing the dresser. The nightstands will have to wait for my next bout of motivation. I honestly think I would have finished it sooner but I couldn't decide on a color. I wanted them in our bedroom but wasn't really looking for a bold color in there...and yet, this dresser needs a bold color. Finally after a day of Pinterest and it's cute ideas, I decided on yellow to go with the gray and white stripes we have in there. Big Deal for me. I love color but to go all in with yellow was a big step for me.

So anyway, it's all done now. The yellowfication process of turning all of the red accents to yellow has not been an easy one, mostly because I'm still not entirely sold on the color. I love the brightness and overall happiness that the color brings, but if I'm being totally honest, it's a bit girly. And I can tell that Devin is not loving it but he won't say anything other than, "That's different." which in Darci language translates to "I hate it." I don't know if it will be staying yellow for long. But we'll see. I don't see myself refinishing it again any time soon, so for now, yellow it is.

If I just look at the dresser itself, I love it. Absolutely love it. The yellow just fits the design of it well and I so want to love it in my room. Maybe when I finish everything else it will fit better? Cross your fingers! (Oh, and I can't get the yellow photograph quite to the true color. It's more of a mustard yellow than the pictures let on but whatever. Yellow is yellow, I guess!)

{Before}

{During}

{After}

(sorry, it was hard to get a good angle because my bed is in the way, and I am NOT moving that just for a picture:)

{Investment}

Dresser: $0. Paint & supplies:$ 30. Time: 5-6 hours(off and on)

What do you think? Keep the yellow or start all over?

{added later}

I've had a few inquiries as to how I did this and what I used. Here's a quick recap...I lightly sanded the top because there was a little water damage, and sanded the drawer fronts. But the rest of it, eh, not so much. It has a lot of curves and I hate sanding so I just skipped that and primered the whole thing with Rustoleum spray paint primer. FYI, I'm a huge believer in spray paint because I can work on  projects off and on between taking care of my kids and what not. Anyway, I've tried a lot of brands and Rustoleum is the best. By far. Yes, it's a few bucks more than the cheap stuff but it does the job so much better and with less coats. So anyway, after I primered it I just gave it two coats of the yellow(Rustoleum Warm Yellow in gloss) and then when that finished drying-wait at least 24 hours-otherwise your paint won't be completely dry-I went over the entire thing with a coat of Polyeurethane in a high gloss. I did two coats on the top of the dresser because it will get more wear than the rest of it. YOu just paint it on with a paintbrush(smoothly) and let it dry. If you see air bubbles in the birst few minutes, you can smooth over them with the brush again but they will pop and it will all smooth together to create a nice glaze. Poly is my new favorite top coat and I kind of want to go around and slather every piece of furniture that I have with it, haha. It just protects things so well and gives your piece a really finished look. You can buy it with a matte finish too if you prefer. I'm just into gloss right now:) That's it! It's really a fairly easy project. I hope this helps!