Dramatically Updated Chest of Drawers to Gorgeous Stenciled Dresser

Talk about an extreme makeover, this is one of my favorites.

When I was offered this dresser I knew I could bring her back to life. Or at least I thought I could. The original legs and hardware were lost somewhere along the way but the bones were great and I knew it was a solid made piece.

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Step 1 was to remove the pretty metallic butterfly stickers that luckily easily came off. The entire dresser was sanded smooth with a sanding sponge. Then the whole pieces was scrubbed well with Simple Green cleaner

I knew I would not find replacement legs to fit the existing holes so they were filled with DAP wood pro. Apply a few layers letting each layer dry well to build up.

TIP: I like to use an old back card to apply on smooth flat areas.

The same applied for the hardware as it was very specific; Again more DAP wood pro wood filler.

Using my carbide scraper from Richard tools I smoothed off the excess wood filler before sanding smooth with my Dewalt orbital sander.

New legs were sourced along with new anchor plates which were screwed securely on by the handyman. See the smoothed old leg area above it?

The dresser is now ready to make pretty.

The old leg holes were stained to match the rest, above left side is complete.

I originally thought a warm white stencil design but then thought Fusion Mineral Paint in chocolate. I let handyman decide and he chose chocolate, of course.

I chose Cutting Edge Stencils ; Indian inlay stencil for this beauty. For the large stencil portion I used the dense foam roller from Cutting Edge Stencil Tools Kit. You use a roller like a stencil brush, be sure to only have a minimal amount of paint on the roller and roll on. 

Here are more stenciled projects I have done.

Move the stencil left and right matching the pattern to finish the drawer fronts.

Then move on to the narrow detail stencil around the outer edge.

For this stencil I used the small stencil brush from the Cutting Edge Stencil Tools Kit.

The roller worked perfect to paint the front edges and the top as well as the new legs.

I also used a small artist brush to connect a few areas to camouflage the old hardware holes. Can you see it? Nope, that is great.

And the stenciling is complete. I think it is the perfect addition to this piece.

The chocolate color is perfect with the stain too and gives a subtle stencil pattern. 

Now for the hardware. I used the silver knobs but drilled new holes using my Dewalt cordless drill.

I positioned them centered to the outside of the drawers.

The silver on the leg caps coordinates perfectly.

TIP: make a template out of a piece of cardboard to keep all the drawer holes the exact same on all drawers.

And here it is all complete. What do you think? 

It is one of my most dramatic updates. I love it.

Many thanks to the project sponsors

I have also linked items I use on my projects via my Amazon affiliate for your convenience. Rest assured there is no pressure to purchase nor is there any increase in price using my links. It is only meant to share the products I find useful.

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May 21, 2020

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