Transforming a Dresser Project

About 4 years ago we moved house.

We moved from a nice, homely, small apartment to a nice, homely, small house. The only major difference was now the stairs, at least, were inside the home.

We didn't have much stuff and everything went in one van. With a couple of friends helping out we were all done and dusted in an hour or two.

Except for one thing. The dresser. Which would not fit up the stairs.

A few years earlier we had bought this huge dresser. 5 big drawers for her, 5 big drawers for me. And now it stood slap bang in the centre of our 'parlour sized' living room like a big sore thumb. That's if your idea of a big sore thumb was 5ft x 4ft x 2ft and made of solid wood.

There were late night discussions. "Do we take a window out?" "Should we remove the banister rail?" and of course the dreaded, "I could cut a bit off and try and put it back together?"

Eventually, a friend commented, removing one or two of the threads in our staircase might give the extra half a foot needed to maneuver it up. Luckily, when removing the carpet and underlay we found we had just enough room to force it up with minimal damage to wall and dresser. I would be painting the wall in time anyway but I would have to repair any damage to the dresser.

That was 4 years ago. I still haven't fixed it.
But now, I think it's time.

I've found 6 great ideas to transform different types of dresser.

Below are the Before & After photos followed by a link to the website on how to achieve the look.

1. Distressed Dresser

                        Before                                                                                               After

Image: Miss Mustard Seed

Image: Miss Mustard Seed

Jump over to Miss Mustard Seed for the details.


2. Ikea-hack Dresser.

Image: Gravy Train

Image: Gravy Train

 Jump over to Gravy Train for the details.


3. Adding Fabric to a Dresser.
                                                                             Before

Image: 508 Restoration & Design

                                                                            
                                                                              After

Image: 508 Restoration & Design

Jump over to 508 Restoration & Design for the details.


4. Stencilled Dresser

                            Before                                                                                        After

Image: 508 Restoration & Design

Image: 508 Restoration & Design

This is also from 508 Restoration & Design


5. Chalkboard Dresser

Image: homelife

Jump over to Home Life for this and lots of other ideas using chalkboard paint.


6. Nursery Dresser
                                                                           Before

Image: Domestic Adventure

                                                                          
                                                                            After

Image: Domestic Adventure

Head over to Domestic Adventure for the details.

There are plenty of ideas to choose from but if none of them suit you can always try the traditional route and tackle a full on restoration. There's some great tips on TLC home about how to restore wood furniture.