Friendship Star Dresser

A few weeks ago we were all out at the lake visiting family for the weekend.  For some reason we had both vehicles with us, so for the trip home the kids divided themselves up between my husband and myself.  Ben and Brother stayed behind to finish up some work at his parents’ house and the girls and I headed for home.  It was still early in the afternoon and we had no time constraints so we decided to hit up some yard sales along the way.

As I did the slow drive by of the first sale we came across I spied this lovely beauty.  It was worth the turn around for further inspection.  I’d been looking for a bigger nightstand and this one was the perfect size.  The laminate top and shiny red drawers were not going to scare me away.

 

As I chatted with the owner I found out that she refinished furniture as a side job.  This had been her TV stand that she had recently replaced and didn’t want anymore.  I still wonder why she didn’t refinish this one.  It really doesn’t matter why, but I was expecting some horrible experience while working on it to explain why she didn’t take it on.

Step one was to remove the laminate top.  It came off fairly easily by running a chisel under it and popping it up.  What you are looking at on the right side of the picture is not wood grain.  That’s glue over multiple layers of paint.  Nothing that my belt sander couldn’t make quick work of.

The rest got sanded down also.  I was a bit worried about painting over the shiny red drawers so they got sanded down to the wood.  I had to go through red, white, green and tan paint layers. I know there are plenty of paints out there that claim to stick and cover over anything, but with my track record of diy mishaps I am very hesitant.

Little Bit came out to help.  She loves painting and working on anything I am working on.  I wasn’t even allowed to start until she got back from changing into her painting clothes.

 

After three coats of Behr paint in Swiss Coffee it was clean and ready to go.  I could have just left it white with a wood top, which is a very pretty look that I love, but I wanted something decorative on it.

I had originally planned on decoupaging a pretty fabric on the drawers.  It’s a technique I’ve been reading about lately and really want to try, but I couldn’t find any fabric that seemed to go right with my room.  So back to the drawing board I went.

I like to make quilts on occasion, and I really love barn stars so why not do something like that on the dresser?  After searching quilt patterns for ideas I found one that was perfect.  It’s called the Friendship Star, but looks like a wreath to me.

I drew a grid on a piece of paper and added the quilt block design to it.  I then counted the number of squares this design needed and calculated how big each square should be in order to fit the dresser.  It turned out that each of my squares needed to be 2 inches.  Since this design is nine squares by nine squares it make for an 18 inch design.  Next I drew out a very light grid on the dresser and filled in where my paint lines needed to be.

I rounded up some left over grays and a brown.  The brown got mixed with gray to tone it down a little.  It took two coats to get a solid color.  It looked rather patchy with only one coat.

Next I distressed the front to give it a worn look.  Can you see the difference?  It’s subtle, but there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then rubbed on two layers of clear wax for protection and stained the top.  I chose to not use antiquing on this one.  I wanted a crisp, not dirty, worn look.

And now it’s good to go!  A sweet little dresser to use as my new nightstand.

Just as a reminder of what it used to look like and how far it has come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really can’t believe how quick and easy this transformation was.  I am so happy to have a new nightstand and my husband is just as happy to have it out of the garage.  But now that corner of the garage looks so sad and empty.  Not to worry though, there are plenty more projects around to fill it!