If you happen to read what I type here (as opposed to just looking at the pictures), you already know that I'm TERRIBLE about starting project 1, setting it aside, starting project 2 (or 3 or 4), setting that one aside to return project 1 (or 2 or 3 or 4), so forth and so on. That's okay when the projects are small and don't take up much room in my house. It's not so okay when it's stripping and repainting a functional dresser.
I have a dresser that belonged to my Grandmother. It's been painted and re-painted many times and has always (for some unknown reason) resided in the dining room of whatever house it lived in. Anyway, I decided that I needed to strip all the old paint off, sand, and give this dresser a fresh start. So after emptying its contents all over my dining room floor (which isn't used as a dining room, but rather as a library/exercise equipment holding room), I moved the dresser into the garage and proceeded to strip that paint.
I kind of liked stripping the paint off. It was fun to see it get all goopy and then scrape off. So, I did that one Sunday and then moved the whole operation to my (small) back porch so I could get my car back in the garage. At first, I continued to work on the dresser on the back porch. I sanded and got as many of of those stubborn bits of paint off that I could. Then, it was time to paint. This is when work stalled ... well, stopped.
See, it rained here almost every day this summer. Very strange for this neck of the woods. Usually we have high humidity, but no rain in the summertime. I told myself that I couldn't paint because it was so wet outside that the paint would take FOREVER to dry. I didn't want to paint inside because I have a young, curious daughter and an energetic, curious kitten both of whom would have LOVED to play in the paint. So the dresser sat outside on my tiny screened in back porch all summer long. The drawers were stacked inside the house next to the computer. All of these things were in the way. The items that had at one time been inside the dresser were also in the way. You'd think this fact would have kick-started me into action, but, alas, no. We just walked around the dresser and the drawers and the drawer contents --- eventually the dresser and drawers became cluttered with papers and other items, blending into our home's motif with surprising ease.
Finally, after several months, the weather man said the humidity was going to be low and we were going to have a wonderful weekend of cooler weather. Since humidity and rain were my excuses for not painting, this declaration forced me into motion. I moved everything back into the garage so I'd have more room to move, bought some Kilz to cover up any thing weird on the dresser, and pulled out some paint that was leftover from my bedroom and bathroom. The funny thing is that I finished the whole thing in a day (even with 2 coats of Kilz, 2 coats of paint, and the suggested drying times). Why couldn't I have done that sooner? The humidity thing was really a poor excuse. I could have painted in the garage and left the door close with the fan on in there. The paint would have dried. Oh well, I guess the important thing is that the project is finished. Here it is...
The body of the dresser is a slightly darker shade of purple than the drawers. It really did turn out nicely and the paint is relatively smooth, all things considered. If I may, now I'd like to draw your attention to the runner on top of the dresser.
I like runners on top of furniture. Don't ask me why, I just do. I made this runner yesterday morning. It started out as 4 placemats from Goodwill. After pulling out the seams and the lining, I did a little sewing, and waa-laa! A runner! I'm pretty proud of this. It's not perfect, but it coordinates well with the dresser colors and cost me about $2.
Now I just have to get the contents back inside the dresser.... maybe that won't take another 6 months.
Okay... so this concludes the dresser saga. That was a bunch of typing for such a simple project.
