French Provincial Dresser: Before and After

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After looking around for the perfect dresser for Hailey’s room, I found this little tired out French Provincial dresser on Craigslist for $40 and immediately began picturing the possibilities.

I removed all the knobs and the crooked but elegantly curvy fake keyhole.

I am a perfectionist, but not a prepared perfectionist. Usually I bungle things up by not prepping, then later I’m sorry and have to backtrack and spend quadruple the time to fix the details I overlooked in the beginning. So I’m proud to say that I went to the trouble of fixing the off-center knobs on the top dresser drawer. They looked funny and made the drawer hard to open. I filled the holes with Elmer’s Wood Filler, let them dry, and sanded over the top of them.  I also filled the other nicks and scratches on the top of the dresser, and lightly sanded a few spots with chipped paint.

Part of the panel at the bottom had come unglued, so a bit of wood glue, a shim and a clamp did the trick.

My next step was to prime the piece with two coats of Zinsser’s Oil Based Primer, applied with mini-foam rollers. I sanded the primer with extra-fine sandpaper and a sanding sponge meant for sanding between coats. (Note: my preference is the sandpaper vs. the sanding sponge. The sponge is supposedly “washable”, but really only is effective after about 5 washes before it loses it’s grit. I had to wash it probably 10 times per project.)

When the primer was as smooth as I possibly thought it could be, I painted the piece with “Pooh’s Favorite Things” by Behr from Home Depot, again using mini-foam rollers and sanding between coats.

Now my knob holes had to be drilled, so I marked the center of the drawers by using an old artist’s trick (maybe carpenters do it too?). I angled a ruler from corner to corner, diagonally, and marked the center with a small line using a pencil. Then I angled the ruler the opposite way and marked the center again, creating an “X” in the middle of the drawer panel. I marked both sides.

Using my small hand screwdriver and a drill bit, I drilled through the center of the drawers – and my eyes breathed a sigh of relief at the now centered knob holes. Now the dresser was ready for the finish. I used Minwax Gloss Wipe-On Poly for the finish. I pour the poly into a recycled container and use a torn old t-shirt to apply. I applied two coats.

I painted the knobs with Rustoleum’s Oil Rubbed Bronze paint, which is all it is cracked up to be. Everyone is amazed that it is spray paint. (Yes, I tell my secrets. I can’t help being proud to be frugal.)

And finally, the finished product! After all the hard work, feeling like I’d never finish, and hating that we had dresser pieces scattered all over the porch of our apartment, I had to take in the lovely lines and curves that now look good enough to eat. So I must admit that for a week after it was done, several times during the day you could find me sitting on the rocking chair admiring the dresser.