@kmosher

When I was a kid, I went through the usual career aspiration phases that most kids go through – teacher, artist, pharmacist, to name a few – but the one that stuck for the longest at a young age was interior designer.

I went so far as to beg my dad to buy home planning software for our PC in the late 1990′s – it was a series of 10 or so floppy disks to install – so I could play around with home design. I was probably 10 or 12 at the time, so not exactly the right demographic, but that didn’t matter to me. What fun I had with that program!

You could design houses from the ground up, pick colours and conceptualize your dream home. (I had an “I want to be an architect phase, too.) It was AMAZING.

Like all phases, it was just that. I moved on to something new around the time I learnt that colour coordinating meant more than mixing pink with purple and that not everyone wanted to mix pink with purple.

(Who knew?)

But, my crafty senses have prevailed throughout my life, manifesting in  handmade goods for family and friends around the holidays. I’ve also loved tearing pages from home design pages, pinning and re-pinning ideas on Pinterest and wishing and hoping for the day when I’ll have my own house to play designer with.

I’ve wanted to indulge in a DIY before and after project for ages, and it was just a matter of time before I came across a piece of furniture I could experiment with. A few months ago, I found a dresser abandoned on my street with “TAKE ME” plastered on in in chalk.

This poor old dresser was peeling and in need of a makeover. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up (plus, I need the storage, so win/win.)

Here’s what I did to take my dresser from drab to fab:

1. Sand the old paint job off & wipe down sawdust. 

We did two grains of sandpaper; a very coarse sand followed by a less coarse sand.

2. Complete minor surface repairs.

There were some nicks in the sides of the dresser and a few places where some carpenters glue and some clamps helped to get the dresser ready for regular wear and tear again.

3. Prime all surfaces for paint. 

I like priming, because it’s like a practice round before you really paint. It’s a good opportunity to take stock of all the crevices, tricky areas and finer details you’ll need to pay close attention to when putting on your actual coat of paint.

3. Paint.

2 coats, with ample drying time in between.

4. Assemble new hardware. 

Voila! A new-to-me dresser, ready to go:

Thanks to my willing father who was nice enough to give up his Saturday to help me out, this only took one day to complete.

Total cost for supplies (primer, paint, paint tray/brushes, sandpaper, new hardware): $80-$100.

So, what do you think? And, do you have any tips for DIY-ing at home?