Chest of drawers makeover. Found, flipped, sold for 100 €

16 May, 2021

Chest of drawers makeover

DAY 1. Fixing issues

The chest of drawers I found on the street has many small issues I need to address first. Each drawer has a different knob and these strange plastic stickers. The bottom panel was assembled backwards. There are some cracks in the wood on the side. Same issue I have found on the corner. The back of the chest of drawers has no panel, which is technically not a problem, but still nice to have. Finally, the top seems to be affected by the weather elements and needs to be repaired.

I took the drawers out. My first step would be re-assembling the bottom part of the chest of drawers as it was assembled backwards.

I decided to examine the drawers and found out, the wooden part that holds the bottom side of one of the drawers doesn’t have a screw and it is wobbly. I have found a screw that fits there perfectly and fixed the drawer. Surprise-surprise, it seems all 3 drawers have the same problem, and I fixed them, too.

The next step is to get rid of the knobs and the plastic stickers. Still unsure what they were for, but they had to go. I don’t like the style when each drawer has a different colour and a different knob.

Missing back panel in the chest of drawers

After that, I am going to use a sander for the very first time. I am going to attach the sandpaper to it and let’s go. The upper surface of the chest of drawers has stains and watermarks because it must have been under the rain for a while. I am going to sand it to get rid of that layer and then paint it over. Guys, my mistake is to do this at home. I had to clean my entire room afterwards. The white dust was everywhere. My suggestion is, don’t use a sander at home.

Now, let’s fix the back. In my stash, I have thick cardboard from old furniture. It won’t cover the entire back of the chest of drawers, but still will make it look a little better. I am going to see the piece according to my measures. Using small nails and a hammer I am attaching the back panel to the chest of drawers.

Simply with my finger, I am applying the caulk to mask the cracks.

The final step for today is to paint the top. I am using a Shabby Chic Victorian white colour paint. I ended up giving 3 coats of paint to make it look simply stunning. I have also painted with one layer of paint over the drawers, except for the black one, to which I gave two coats of paint.

DAY 2. Drawers makeover

I dedicated the second day to working on the drawers. I wanted them to look more aesthetic and expensive.

The first step for today is to measure and drill holes in the places where my new knobs will be. I ordered really beautiful black leather knobs from amazon and now I am going to make the measurements for them.

When it is done, I am going to make a new texture for the frontal part of the drawers by using this jute fabric which gives me the texture and the colour I want. The measure of the fabric should be a couple of centimeters shorter from all the edges of the drawer and you will see later why. I have painted drawers with white colour because the fabric still can be seen through, and all tree drawers must have a bright colour.

I am using Mod Podge to glue the jute fabric to the drawers. To make sure it dries nicely, I have put some heavy books on the top.

Next step, I want to make sure the holes I drilled before are visible, so I have used a stick and little scissors to mark the holes.

Next, for each drawer, I want to make a wooden frame. I have purchased 4 and a half meters of these thin wooden pieces and now I will make some measurements to see where I need to make 45 degrees cut. For each drawer will go 4 pieces, 2 short ones and 2 long ones. All of them have 45 degrees cut on each side. To clean the cuts, I am using sandpaper.

I have glue for wood. Applying a generous amount of glue, I am attaching all the pieces of the frame to the drawer.

There are obvious cracks between the wooden pieces, but it is okay because I am going to apply a caulk for wood to close them.

The final step of the wooden frame creation is painting it white. I gave 3 coats of paint for each frame, and it just made me happy already seeing how all the pieces came together. I won’t lie, this project was a little scary to make, because it is more complex than anything I have done before and until the very last moment, I was not sure if it will look good. The idea I have created in my head took a perfect picture, but I didn’t know how it would turn out to be in the end.