I’ve been on a Craigslist binge lately. I seriously can’t believe some of the things that people are *literally* giving away for free! It’s crazy addictive and for those of us who love to customize and DIY just about everything in our homes, it is a frugal and eco-conscious way to decorate your space.
My latest find was an awesome solid wood dresser that this woman was selling for only $25! Just from the pictures alone I could tell that it was a solid, quality piece of furniture. I immediately contacted her and arranged a pick up date.
I had to borrow my friend’s truck (thanks Alyssa!) cause that thing was not about to fit into my little Prius C!
Once we got to the seller’s home (an ocean front condo in La Jolla (#jealous) I met with the woman, who by the way was so incredibly fun and spunky and was basically my spirit animal, and she showed me the dresser. We were chatting a bit and she asked me what I do for a living and I said “Oh I’m a professional dancer and teacher.” It took her less than a second to respond with “Oh my gosh you’re an artist!? Take the dresser for free!” WHAT?! I was floored by her generosity and appreciation for artists; it was a breath of fresh air to meet someone who values the arts so enthusiastically.
I tried again and again to pay her for the dresser but she refused, and then continued to show me things she wanted me to take! She was in the middle of moving to another condo down the street that was higher up with an even BETTER view, yeah, it’s a tough life haha. I ended up leaving with the dresser, a storage ottoman, 2 rugs, an assortment of beautiful pillows and blankets, kitchen ware, and a GORGEOUS capiz-shell chandelier that I have been eyeing at Pottery Barn for like 3 years! And all for FREE.
I must have had some amazing Craigslist karma cause that day was a dream. ❤
Anyways, on to the transformation!
Here is the before picture:
Brown. Basic. Ugh.
And here is what I turned it into:
Super cute right?!
Here’s the materials and methods I used:
Materials:
- Dresser
- Sanding Block (I used 220 grit)
- Primer (I used a Kilz primer)
- 1 Quart of Paint (I went with the color “Light Quartz” by Benjamin Moore Advanced)
- Painting Supplies (foam brushes, foam rollers, drop cloth)
- Hardware for Drawers
Method:
- I started by removing the old hardware and sanding down the whole thing with my sanding block and then wiping it all down with a wet cloth to make sure there was no dust left behind.
- Next I primed everything with a nice thick coat of primer. I used a foam roller to do all the large surfaces and then a small foam brush to get into all the tiny details.
- Allow the primer to dry and then apply 4 coats of paint. I did this many because my color was the faintest shade of pink and it really took all the coats to get to the color that I wanted. The first couple coats just looked white to me.
- Allow the paint to cure (about 16 hours).
- No top coat needed! The great thing about the Benjamin Moore Advanced paint is that it levels and hardens to a furniture quality almost lacquer like finish. Super durable and smooth.
- Attach your hardware. I found mine at Anthropologie and they were on sale for only $5 a piece! I freaked out when I saw the price cause the other knobs I was looking at were $20 a piece. Not exactly in my budget. Slash these are too freaking adorable!
For the bottom drawers I ended up spray painting the pulls a metallic copper by Krylon to help bring out the pink tones in the paint. - Admire your beautiful new piece of furniture!
Pretty awesome am I right?!
The project is really simple and easy to do, just a little time consuming as you have to wait 16 hours between each coat of paint. It took me a week to complete this project, painting about an hour each day. And the whole thing only cost me about $80 to do!
What do you think? Do you have any Craigslist furniture transformations? I’d love to see them!
xoxo
awildbloom.com 