On my way to Lowe’s one day I passed by a yard sale. I happened to be kid free that trip so I was free to stop by without being harassed to buy a broken toy or grungy stuffed animal that they just have to have. I found an organizer for Sister’s beads, some aqua blue glass bottles that were so old they are striped with air bubbles and an antique dresser. The dresser was my grungy stuffed animal.
The note on top of the dresser said that it was from the 1940’s and to make an offer. It was not in very good condition. It was painted brown, the original hardware was gone, it was missing a knob and it wasn’t very sturdy.
I decided to check to see if the drawers even worked. I opened the top drawer and started to laugh. I was so glad that there wasn’t anyone around me to see me because I’m pretty sure I know what I would think if I were witnessing the event. I would think that a lone woman at a yard sale laughing at a drawer was half off her rocker.
What caused this sudden outburst of jolliness, you may ask? Well, tucked neatly into the top drawer were three baby mice in a nest made of yellow insulation. Their eyes were still closed and they could barely crawl.
I slowly closed the drawer, decided that it was just what I needed and went to inquire on the piece.
The woman who was running the sale and I talked for a bit about the dresser and how much work was going to go into it. Then we came to an agreement on the price. She basically just asked me to make an offer telling me that I would not be able to offend her. Then I asked if the mice were included. The lady, who was probably closing in on her 70s almost started hopping around. “There’s mice in it!?” I said yes and went to open the drawer saying, “Here, I’ll show you.” I’ll tell you one thing, that woman had some fast reflexes! I didn’t even get my hand half way to the drawer before she grabbed my arm to stop me while squealing, “No, no, no! Don’t open it! I’ll get the stuff cleaned off the top and get my husband to load it up! You can back your truck up closer! I’ll get my husband! He’ll load it for you!” I think she really wanted it gone. Her husband and a friend of his loaded it up and sent me on my way. I needed my kids’ help getting it out of our SUV. It is solid wood and heavy!
Once we got it out of the truck I opened the drawer and showed them the babies. They instantly wanted to take care of them. They looked up online how to feed and care for baby mice. It didn’t take long before they realized that they were not going to be able to give them the care they needed. I sent out a message on Facebook asking if anyone wanted them, but for some reason there isn’t a big want for mouse pups. (Did you know a baby mouse is called a pup? I had to look it up.) I called Petco and they said that they would take them. So, off to Petco we went. I thought that it would be just a quick drop off, but no. I had to fill out an adoption release form! Little Bit had already named them, so Bunny, Junior and Sylvester were put on the paperwork and were ready for a new home. THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE A HAPPY LOVING HOME. I am saying that loudly so that everyone will understand me and will not say anything to the contrary. A HAPPY LOVING HOME. Now, onto the dresser.
The rebuild was a big undertaking for me. It was a full day of working on it top to bottom, inside and out. The four drawers, frame and top were all in need of repair. I know that my techniques for repairing this piece are not what anyone should look to as a guide to furniture repair, so I’m not going to go into detail. I will tell you that this dresser is no where near a treasured antique. It’s just old. So the use of glue, clamps, a nail gun and a jig saw were all I really needed.
The two top drawers only needed the bottoms reset.
The two big drawers needed their bottoms completely replaced. I found a partial sheet of 1/4″ plywood in my scrap wood pile, cut it to size and slid them into the bottoms. The joints got squared back up, glued and nailed.
The joints on the inside of the frame were loose and pulling apart. After I got all of Miss Mousie’s seeds brushed out I glued and nailed them back into place.
Then the top boards needed to be cleaned up, glued back together and screwed back on. The boards have curved a little so they don’t sit as well next to each other as they should. A quick run through a joiner would do the trick, but seeing as how I haven’t got one of those I just sanded the sides of the boards, glued the edges, clamped them until the glue set and called it good.
The back of the top looked as though it was missing a piece. It came with a mirror, but it doesn’t cover the back from side to side and I’m not sure that it really even went to the dresser originally, so I needed to make something to fill that odd gap.
I found a board in the garage that was the exact width that I needed. Sometimes I feel like my scrap wood pile is like the Biblical woman’s oil jar that Jesus blessed that kept pouring out the oil because I find stuff in there that I didn’t even know I had. It just keeps pouring out more wood. I wanted the back board to mimic the shape of the front of the top. I clamped the board on the top and traced its curve.
I cut it with a jig saw and sanded it smooth. Then it was attached with screws from the back.
My daughter came out and saw the board I had cut for the back and asked where it came from. I told her I got it from my scrap pile. She was surprised and asked, “You had a board in there that shape?!” No, Sweetie, Mommy’s scrap pile isn’t that amazing.
There were little things to tend to here and there like veneer and trim pieces needing to be re-glued in spots and cracks that needed to have filler added.
Next came sanding. Blah. I know there are paints out there that claim you can paint over anything and it will stick and look amazing, but I’m not buying it. As old as this dresser is I’m sure that it was painted with something that no paint will stick to and I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have any issues with the finish. And besides, this paint was more than likely lead based and who doesn’t like a bit of lead based paint dust to fill their lungs? Awesome.
After about two and a half weeks the side effects to the paint dust wore off, I stopped twitching and did the primer. Just kidding, I was fine. I just got busy with other stuff and was a bit tired of working on the thing. Anyhow, I used some Kilz primer that was laying around. I had a super fun time priming. (That last sentence is to be read with an extremely sarcastic tone.) Just as I got the top two drawers primed and they were good and tacky a big wind came up and blew fine little mulch particulate from the flower bed all over them. I’m pretty sure I sounded like Ralphy’s dad from A Christmas Story.
I only primed the inside of the top two because they were very dirty looking. The two big drawers were pretty clean and had new bottoms.
Last came the paint. I wanted gray, but I have a very hard time finding a gray that doesn’t look purple in my house. It doesn’t seem to matter how many paint chips I get or samples I buy they just don’t work. One of my little tricks that I employ is to go to the scrap book isle of a craft store and get a 12 x12″ piece of paper in the color I want. They are about 50 cents each. I can see it’s color in a big area without buying samples and painting it on something. Then once I decide that it’s the right color I take the paper to the paint counter at the hardware store and have them color match it. I obviously don’t have the millions of color options that way, but sometimes fewer options are better. Since this was color matched it doesn’t have a name so I’m calling it Miss Mousie Gray.
I did two coats and added on some blue and white knobs I found at Hobby Lobby. Here it is all painted and looking new again.
But wait there’s more! Come back next time and I’ll show you a little surprise I added.
Have you found a paint that works without sanding or priming? Please leave a comment because I loath those steps.
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