For the nursery I knew I wanted a long dresser to use as her changing table. I had been researching on Pinterest for a while and considered using a mid century dresser. I used to see them ALL THE TIME in the thrift stores, but now that I actually needed one, they were nowhere to be seen. Here are some of my favs from Pinterest.
SIGH.... so seeing as finding a mid century dresser is near impossible, I went back on Pinterest and kept looking. Then I found
THIS......
Wow! Hello beautiful!! I was in love the first moment I saw it! I think it's just beautiful and would go with the other furniture in the nursery. How do I replicate this?? I started by looking for a cheap 6 drawer white dresser. I went to all the local big box stores and didn't see anything. Then I came across this on Amazon.
When I purchased it, it was $172 with free shipping, now it's $192.98....geesh, got lucky there. Well, when it was delivered the box weighed a TON! Did I mention that I was 9 months pregnant when I did this DIY??! I had to have Caiden and his buddy carry it into the house for me.
9 million pieces...no really there were 9 million pieces!!!
It took 2 days to put it together. My butt was going numb from sitting for so long while doing this project! Here's the after picture. I left off the kick plate piece. I didn't like the way it looked as it took away from the faux mid century look I was going for.
For the fois bois paint treatment, I went to Home Depot and picked up two paint tools, a "wood grain rocker" and a "graining comb" both made by the Martha Stewart brand in the paint department. I did a google search on how to do the fois bois technique. It definitely takes some practice! I recommend having some large cardboard on hand to practice on. Start with a coat of primer, I like Zinnser Cover Stain Oil based primer. The dresser is laminate, so I had to finish it with 4 coats of oil based polyurethane in satin finish.
waiting for each coat to dry!
I wanted to replicate the drawer pulls that were on the original dresser but while searching the Internet, all I found were very pricey options.... not in my budget. Then thankfully I found this tutorial from Sarah M. Dorsey Designs, for DIY ring pulls. AWESOME!!
I found all the materials at Home Depot, and YES! they were made for under $2.00!! I used nickel instead of brass and they came out really nice. I love it when people come up with awesome alternatives!
Here's the finished product! I love how it came out! The paint and topcoat have been very durable. I'm so glad I didn't settle on just a regular, boring changing table. This fits the room perfectly.
LOVE!!
Next projects: Babushka crib mobile, twin bed skirt and crib skirt!!
