DIY: Coral Dresser Drawer Liner

Remember the coral dresser I redid for the nursery? Here's a little sneak peak of it set up in the nursery... or at least how it was the other day. :)

For all purposes it was done, but I wanted to add some drawer liners for a little unexpected surprise of pattern and color. Luckily it was a pretty easy project!

I grabbed some coordinating wrapping paper from Target and used a foam brush and mod podge I had on hand. 

Next I measured one large drawer and one smaller drawer and cut out the wrapping paper squares accordingly. After making sure the squares fit in each drawer, I folded half of the paper back. Then I spread mod podge on one half of the bottom of the drawer with the foam brush. Mod podge dries pretty quickly (thus, why I did each drawer in two parts) and I only used a thin layer. Once it was spread on one half, I used a dry towel to smooth the wrapping paper over top of the mod podge. I did the same on the other side and then propped the drawer up in front of the fan to help it dry quickly.

The part that took the longest was the mod podging, just because there were so many drawers. I decided not to do a top coat of the mod podge because it already felt pretty smooth and durable. 

And that was it! Ready to hold some super cute onesies, burp cloths, and baby shoes! 

Consider this dresser complete! 

Coral Dresser for the Nursery

She's DONE!!!

Excuse the tarp and the deck... This is most likely where she will stay until we move in a month or so (still working on where we are moving to...) with the tarp over top (and covered by our awning) in case of rain. 

Isn't she pretty?!?! I'm kind of in love. Well, not kind of. Seriously. Seriously in love.

Here's a quick before and after before we get in to the nitty gritty.

Here's my original post about the dresser progress. I might recap a little bit here too... We started out with my $100 Craigslist find. The brass knobs were a worn dark brown and there were quite a few scratches and nicks. 

After sanding...

And after priming...

It was time for paint! I chose the color Youthful Coral from Behr and got a pint in the Interior Semi-Gloss Enamel (and No-VOC for the nursery). I mostly used the 1.5 and 3 inch brushes. I splurged a bit and bought the Purdy brushes, since I'd heard they were such good quality and helped show less brush strokes. There were still a few visible brush strokes, but only if you got close after 3+ coats.

First coat...

Second coat...

Third coat...

Touch ups on the top (fourth coat)... I used a small foam roller for the top on the third coat, but it didn't cover as nicely as I liked, so I used the large brush to do one good final coat and it turned out great.

Next up was attacking those knobs. I had heard about Brasso from this blog (and one of my inspiration dressers) and it worked like a charm! I enlisted Zach to help me polish up the handles since I heard it was really smelly and didn't want to be around it in my "condition." :) It probably took about an hour to get all six of the long drawer handles (and various pieces) polished. Not easy work and a lot of scrubbing, but for $2 and a little elbow grease it was well worth it! Check out the difference it made.

I could not handle the ring knobs on the middle drawers though. They kept reminding me of the nose rings that you would see on a bull. Even when they were spruced up. No thanks. So for the middle drawer knobs, I bought two sets of three each while I was in Arizona at Hobby Lobby (similar to these ones and these ones from Anthro). The knobs at Hobby Lobby are so much more reasonably priced and they have a lot of the same styles as Anthropologie. They cost around $3.99 each, but were 50% off when I bought them! I decided on the white flower shaped knobs because they looked awesome and the aqua polka dots were a little too much with the coral dresser. Plus, the white flower shaped knobs matched the flower design on the original knobs.

I did end up leaving the base part from the original ring shaped pulls. I liked the flower shape and it made it so I didn't have to do any hard core sanding and/or refilling of the grooves that they left on the drawer fronts.

I also decided to paint over the brass decals that were along the bottom. I originally had the two squares on either side taped off, but didn't like the hard contrast once the rest of the dresser was painted. I like them painted the same color much better - still keeps the detail, but doesn't distract from the rest of the dresser's fun details.

You may notice that she has a middle leg, which I kind of forgot to paint (see it in the picture below? Still brown. Oops!). I don't know if I could have reached it even if I did remember it, but I think I'm going to be lazy and just leave it for now. Unless I can convince my lovely husband to get down there and give it a quick coat or two. Obviously it's not super noticeable or else I would have done it in the first place! Haha.

I was also thinking about doing a top coat of polyurethane to really seal and protect the piece, but the enamel semi-gloss is pretty sturdy and I think it should hold up well. At least for now. Honestly, I'm so glad I'm done with this piece now and that I started when I did because I am getting so uncomfortable. To have to bend over and paint any more would not be fun. I was getting really out of breath towards the end! Especially since I was fully clothed, gloved and had my surgeon-grade face mask on (safety first!).

The only thing I still want to do is get some fun paper to line the drawers. Maybe a fun pattern or even some pretty florals? I'll be sure to post an update when I get around to it!

I'm so pleased with how it turned out! I think it will look amazing in the nursery (which I can't wait to get all set up!). Here's another before and after just for funsies. I love seeing the dramatic change. So much fun.

What are you working on these days? Any fun DIY projects? I feel like I'm in full on nesting mode right now and want to make a ton of stuff! Next up for me is a DIY pouf ottoman! 

A Dresser for the Nursery - Progress

I bought a dresser for the nursery about a month ago for $100 on Craigslist. I'd been looking for a while to find the perfect one, something similar to this one, this one or especially this one. I knew I wanted a long dresser with plenty of storage (for all those cute little socks and onesies!) and some kind of interesting detail. I found just that with this beauty. 

She's solid wood, dovetailed and in pretty darn good condition. I love the detail along the top and the bottom and the inlaid wood. Along the bottom, there is even a little bit of brass detailing. 

I'm a little on the fence about the hardware. They are swinging pulls and I'm afraid they might be a little noisy? I'm definitely not into the round ones in the middle, but I think I might stick with the long handled pulls. They just need some gussying up. We will see. 

The top had some scratches, but nothing a little sanding couldn't cure.

 

On Memorial Day I got to work and started sanding. And then priming. After taking off the hardware, it took me a good 4 hours to get the whole thing sanded and primed (with a few necessary prego breaks in between). 

Next step is paint! I decided on a coral color called Youthful Coral from Behr and I'm ready to go. Can't wait to get the first coat on!

Have you been painting any furniture lately? Dressers? Nightstands? What colors? Please share!

Mr. Dresser Needs Deodorant

I inherited a dresser from my mom (don't worry, my Mama's fine!) when we went to Portland last weekend. It was my Mom's grandparent's dresser and it a big old sturdy piece of furniture. It's pretty masculine (which I like) and is this beautiful deep dark brown/cherry color, with some lighter wood accents. The dresser is unique because the top three drawers are actually inside swing out doors. It's kind of cool and I like how it makes it different. We'll see if it's actually practical... but I think it might be a nice change. 

The drawers are a little stiff and it smells pretty bad like mothballs (yuck!), which is one of the reasons why I need your help! I've searched around online a bit to see if there is an easy way to get out the mothball smell (honestly, I don't know why you would ever use them unless you had a really bad moth/rat problem...) and what I found was 

1) fresh air 
2) MaryEllen's Atmosklear or Smelleze® Mothball Deodorizer Pouch 
3) vinegar and/or coffee (from here). 

Do you have any advice? Please help! I just want the smell to be gone, especially since I will most likely be using this bad boy for my everyday clothes. I do not  want to be smelling like mothballs everyday. Nothankyou.

Here's some more shots to see what the inside is like now. I might put some new liners in there. 

Just in case anyone was wondering... this is how it went down... (Yvonne is my Mama, Hallie is my Gma).

I also love all the little details like the little banner on the outside of the swing doors, the vintage handles and the two toned wood. I'm not planning on doing any painting or even refinishing in the near future. Not just yet. I really want to preserve the integrity of the piece. It's too pretty! Unless the mothball smell doesn't leave. Then I might have to see if paint will cover it. :)

Don't you love old furniture? I do! There's just so much history and style from back in the day. So cliche... but they really don't make them like they used to. 

Don't forget to leave a comment if you have any advice for de-mothballing this guy. I really appreciate it!