Feature Friday: A Dresser Transformation—from Goodwill to Good Golly Miss Molly!

A couple of months ago, I spotted a dresser at Goodwill.

It was dirty, musty, and ugly.

Here’s proof:

Nothing like an adorable little helper to make a nasty task (see that grimy pink scrunchy from 1973?) a little more fun.

Lots of dings, lots of dinginess.

But also, lots of potential.

Did you see the curvy lines, carved floral details, and those fantastic keyhole plates?

The minute I saw her, I knew that this sad, neglected hunk of wood could be revitalized with just a little love and, of course, a lot of paint.

Plus, when I asked Tamara—the super-nice manager at the Goodwill I frequent—if she could lower the price, she said, “For you, honey? Sure!” and then knocked it down from $25 to $15.

$15 for a potentially fabulous piece of furniture? Sold!

There are definitely benefits to showing up every week or so to rummage around—one of which is that the managers now recognize me on sight and are quite willing to knock a few dollars (or 10) off of my bill.

Of course, there are also downsides (check out #3). 

So, I loaded Collette (yup, just decided that now) up in our totally gnarly van (also #3), scrubbed her down (Collete, not the van; Sienna, the van, stays dirty most of the time), and gave her a good coat of Kilz oil-based primer.

Then, I sprayed the keyhole plates with Rustoleum’s Heirloom White (it’s the shade that Kate of Centsational Girl paints most of her furniture, and, after seeing all of the amazing pieces she’s transformed with it, I just had to give it a try!) because I wanted a little contrast and focus on the details:

Next, I hauled out a half-empty can of Sherwin Williams Quite Coral—the same shade that I used to transform the garage sale chandy in my master closet makeover—and got to rolling and brushing to my little heart’s content (okay, so my heart would have been a little more content with eating cookies and drinking milk while paging through the latest issue of Anthro, but none of that would have gotten get the dresser done, so…).

Here she is, all gussied up, better than new, if you ask me:

I put Collette in the craft room to house my ridiculously massive fabric collection. I got her finished up just in time for Della’s party, and once I’d stuffed her full of fabric, I used her as a sideboard for the party treats.

Two of the drawers weren’t salvageable, so I made little “drawer curtains” out of Premier Prints zigzag fabric + some clearance lace I had in my stash.

I also bought these fantastic knobs for 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby. 6 of them still cost more than I paid for the entire dresser, but in my opinion, they are sooooo worth it!

Here’s a shot of the whole birthday vignette (man, I wish I’d dropped that banner a little lower!).

These shots are not actually from the day of the party, though it looked essentially the same. I took these pictures yesterday after I’d baked up a bunch of treats to take with us to Thanksgiving, but this is what my cake stand would have looked like if I’d managed to cram everything I wanted to get done into the the prep time I had before the party.

Here’s the cost  breakdown for the whole project:

Dresser: $15

Knobs: $27

Primer (I used maybe 1/2): $3

Spray paint (I used 1/4 of a can): $1.50

Paint (already had it): $0

Fabric (already had it): $0

Miscellaneous other supplies: 4.50

TOTAL: $51

So, what do you think? Worth it?

I’m pretty smitten, but I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

I’ll be soaking up every minute I can get with my man before he heads off on another work-trip. : (

P.S. Don’t forget:

 

…only 6 more days to enter and/or give to win!

Linking up:

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_{Thursday ~ Transformation Thursdays ~ Somewhat simple ~ Show off your stuff ~ House of Hepworths ~ Delightful Order ~ My Simple Home Life ~ The Frugal Girls ~ Thrifty Thursday ~ DIY Diva Thursday ~ Tablescape Thursday ~ No Minimalists Here ~ Crafty, Scrappy, Happy ~ Thrifty Decorating ~ Between U and Me ~ 36th Avenue}

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