After I bought my first supply of Chalk Paint, I wanted to paint everything with it. I hadn’t gone thrifting yet, so I figured it was time to give something we already owned a makeover. The lucky winner: my husband’s dresser! I’ve had it since I was a baby and brought it with us when we moved into our first place together. It was serving its purpose quite well, but it wasn’t much to look at. If you’ve read my About section, you know we live in a tiny apartment, and it’s definitely not our forever home. I have a hard time decorating, because I know we wont be here for long and that’s why I like to sell my pieces as well. For this dresser, I kept it relatively neutral so we can take it with us whenever we move. Check out how I made this Pallet Board Topped Dresser for him!
Here’s what the dresser looked like before I started the transformation.
I don’t mind the engraved design on the top drawer, but the hubs, not so much. This thing needed to be more masculine. I used Chalk Paint in Graphite, which I never would have known was a dark grey unless I had seen it in the store. It looks like Black on the website. It’s still a dark color and I wanted to give it some contrast with a white border around each drawer. Since I was using Chalk Paint, no sanding or priming needed! First step was filling in that design and the holes, for new hardware.
I used Elmer’s Wood Filler and had to do about 3 rotations of filling and sanding to get it to be completely smooth.
Time for the paint! I did two coats and after that dried, I used Frog Tape to tape off the white border. I used some leftover white trim paint I had laying around and did two coats of that as well.
Once the white dried, I used Clear Wax to coat the drawers. I’m still getting the hang of this stuff, and feel like this time around I had more trouble than the first. After applying, and buffing off, it looked a bit blotchy to me. Not sure if this had to do with the way I painted, or the way I applied the wax. Either way, applying some more and buffing in spots that looked untouched helped to minimize the blotchiness.
Due to the cold weather, I painted this baby right where it stood. I propped it up on some wooden blocks and painted the body of the dresser.
I used the rest of the pallet board I had left over that I used for my Tray and cut the pieces to size using my circular saw, in our kitchen once again.
I followed pretty much the same process that I used for my tray. 1.) cut 2.) sand 3.) glue 4.) wood stain conditioner 5.) stain and 6.) poly.
Once the top was dry, and the dresser was ready to go, it was time to attach. I used some wood glue first, but some of the boards were a bit warped and didn’t sit very flatly. To fix that we just used some regular nails and nailed the boards to the dresser securely.
I finished this piece a while ago, but originally had chosen different hardware. Once I changed my mind, Hobby Lobby was one short of the pulls I needed. I had to wait almost a week for them to get restocked and then I could take my pictures. Note: it takes Hobby Lobby 2-3 days to unload their truck, boo.
Now this is looking more manly isn’t it?! The quote is from Eric Thomas, my husband’s favorite motivational speaker. I designed it in Illustrator and printed it out for a frame we had laying around.
eric thomas
Awesome read. I saw something like this on pinterest. I think I’ll give it a try. Thanks
brepurposed
Thank you, you should! Very easy DIY 🙂
Seven Town Way (@SevenTownWay)
I love, love, love this dresser makeover! I’ve been wanting to do something like this for the dresser in my son’s room, but never thought of adding the pallet top. It’s a wonderful idea!!
brepurposed
Thank you so much!! Adding the pallet on top is a great way to make it a little more masculine 🙂 If you try it on your son’s dresser I would love to see! Have a great day!
Allison Murray
Why hello! I featured your fab dresser on my blog. Head on over to check it out or grab a button! http://www.dreamalittlebigger.com/post/link-lump-32.html
courtney
I love this! And what great way to add a touch of masculinity to the the dresser with the wood topper. Thanks so much for linking up to the Be.You.Tiful Link Party! I cant wait to see more of your stuff!
brepurposed
Thanks, Courtney! He loves it so it was a great success! Looking forward to more of your parties 🙂
Lisa at Mabey She Made It
i love it! Great job with changing the details and the wood tray on top is absolutely beautiful! Thanks for linking up to the Do Tell Tuesday party!
brepurposed
Thanks Lisa, and thanks for hosting a great party!
FrontPaigeNews
LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I really adore that print too, might have to incorporate that somewhere in my office, such a cute phrase! Can’t wait for the weather to break – I need a DIY dresser makeover!
brepurposed
Thanks Paige! I designed that print, I’d be happy to send it to you!
artdecorationcrafting
You are a very talented girl! The dresser looks gorgeous!!!
brepurposed
You’re so kind, thank you!!
JaneEllen
Wow, your old dresser looks fantastic, love the graphite and white trim. Perfect choice. Love the hardware you used on the dresser, those are so sophisticated looking on that dresser, definitely looks much more male now. Hope your hubs likes it for all your hard work. You did great job on pallet boards also. We use pallet lumber for many things. Free is great. Happy spring days.
brepurposed
Thanks so much, Jane! Those are some of my favorite drawer pulls, always ties a piece together well. I’ll have to check out some of your pallet projects 🙂
chiccalifornia
Beautiful project! Graphite is one of my favorite ASCP colors. I’d love for you to link this up to Be. You. tiful Link Party. tonight. We go live at 6PST http://www.chiccalifornia.com
brepurposed
Thank you, it’s such a great color 🙂 I’ll be sure to link up later tonight!
chiccalifornia
Thanks for linking up to the Be. You. Tiful Link party. You are my feature pick of the week so come on over tomorrow night and grab your button 🙂
brepurposed
Wow! Thank you so much! I’m honored and so happy to be your feature. Looking forward to checking it out tomorrow and I’ll definitely grab my button!