Antique lovers, you will probably want to leave the room for this post. Consider yourselves warned. 
I’m about to post pictures of an antique dresser that I (gasp!) painted. In my defense, I got it from freecycle, and it would have been against the freecycle code of ethics for me to sell it(so I’d never have gotten any money from it anyways). Also, the veneer was not in good shape…the top was missing several chunks of veneer, and the veneer was also peeling off the top two drawers. So, to restore it to a level where one could stain it would have taken a lot more money than I wanted to put into it.
I got this tall-boy dresser from Freecycle back in May. Here it is, in not-so-good shape. This is actually the picture from freecycle(those of you who know me might be wondering when I got a dog! lol).
I fixed the veneer on the top, removed the veneer from the top two drawers(some was missing from the one, and I had to take it off the second one in order to remove the lock), sanded it, painted it, bought new hardware, took out the locks and spray painted them silver(they were gold before), and took the wheels off the bottom.
Here’s an after shot of it.
And here’s a picture of the top, so you can see the neat grain pattern in the veneer. I’m pretty pleased with how my veneer patching came out…I glued some broken pieces of the veneer onto the top before I sanded it all down, and it’s not very noticeable at all.
This replaced a particle board Ikea dresser, which can be seen here. Another freecycled and painted dresser has replaced the other Ikea dresser.(but that’s another post for another day!) I spent about $16 on hardware(LOVE the multipacks of knobs at Home Depot!), less than $4 on paint, and $3 on a can of spray primer. I already had the can of silver spray paint for the little lock pieces, so there was no new cost involved there. So, for $23 and about 8 hours of labor, I now have a dresser that looks pretty stinking good compared to what it looked like before. I love paint.
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Your recent paint posts are inspiring! I’m living in temporary housing for work, but now i CAN’T WAIT to get back home to Freecycle and do some serious painting!
Thank you, Millie!! Seeing other people paint wood furniture is what inspired me, actually. lol I’d love to see what you do when you get back home. And hey, maybe you can inspire someone else.
Very nice! You made it look beautiful. I should pay more attention to freecycle. But there’s just not much I need these days.
Well, if you don’t need something, then even free isn’t is a very good deal! With the exception of a piece or two, all of my freecycle furniture has merely replaced an existing piece of furniture(which has all been freecycled, with the exception of desk, as it was quite literally falling apart!) So, my acquisitions haven’t been cluttering up our house.
Thanks for stopping by! I bookmarked your blog. By the way, I’m an avid bread baker like you, although I haven’t gotten to the point of selling mine!
Wow, you did a great job on this tallboy. Can I just tell you that I have been looking for the perfect tallboy and dresser combo and found them (finally but have not purchased) on Crate and Barrel for 3K! And the style is similar to what you found for free. REDICULOUS! I am going to Freecyle IMMEDIATELY!
Holy cow! $3000? I’m feel extra specially blessed now. lol Which ones were you looking at on Crate and Barrel? I love their furniture(and Pottery Barn’s too).
If you can’t manage to snag something on freecycle(these things show up randomly), you might consider going to a you-finish furniture place. You can get some really nice stuff there for WAY less than you’d pay at Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn.
wow this is amazing! It looks super. Man, our freecycles suck compare to what you guys get on there.
That’s weird, Jenny! The area I live in isn’t particularly wealthy(I bet the freecycles in rich neighborhoods are freakin’ awesome!)…however, this dresser and another one I got came from someone who lives nearby in a nicer neighborhood. So maybe that’s how I lucked out. :p
The furniture you’ve freecycled and painted is beautiful! I recently purchased a solid maple dining room table and 6 chairs through Craig’s List ($100 for everything!) and would love to bring everything back to life with a little paint. Do you have any recommedations for the type of paint to use for this kind of project?
Hi Jen!
The paint I used is the Painter’s Touch brand, which is sold at Home Depot. It comes in small cans and is stocked by the spray paint. It’s latex, I believe, and I use the semi-gloss sheen.
First, though, I spray on the gray Painter’s Touch primer…it works better than the primer that you brush on. After I do the primer, then I brush on the paint that comes in cans.
I’m thinking about doing my own dining room table in black…just haven’t had the time yet. I hope yours turns out well!
You just gave me an idea!!! (*picture lighbulb going on*) I am not really too fond of my kitchen table – it’s great quality wood, though, so I wouldn’t dare go out and purchase another. I would probably like it loads more if I painted it. Food for thought… thanks
Oh yeah…it’s amazing what a coat of paint can do. I think that black paint makes a lot of bad furniture look really great.
My favorite is the dog in the mirror.
I am so thankful that I found your web-site! I have been wanting to stain an old dresser I got from my Grandma. It’s in good condition but I don’t like the color of it. I love the dark espresso color which is what I wanted to stain this piece. I researched all day on how to stain and went to Home Depot to get samples of stain. Then after researching more on how to stain, I came across your web-site and now I have changed my mind on staining…I’m going to paint! I’m like you, I don’t care if I paint an old piece? It’s not like I’m gonna sell it or anything? I just want it to look amazing in my home
My hubby and I are off the Home Depot for supplies (including the sander!)