Antique Dresser Entertainment Center

Today’s post is a story of redemption…at least, I hope you’ll think so.  It’s a story of how an ugly dresser got turned into a pretty dresser, then it got turned into a trashed dresser, then got turned into a dresser entertainment center.

Let me back up a little though and explain.  Several years ago, I bought a super ugly dresser at an auction for $1.  Actually, no one, including myself even bid on the dresser (or the bed frame that came with it), because it was so ugly.  After the auctioneer was done with the furniture section, he called out to the crowd, “Doesn’t anyone want this dresser and bed frame – make me an offer.”  I thought about it for a second, and decided I could probably use the wood for something, and said I’d give $1.  It had been painted a horrible mix of olive green and white, which probably was totally acceptable in the 70’s, and it had a big stain on the top, and since I was the only person even willing to take it home, I feel less guilty about what happened to this dresser.

Once I got it home, I realized it actually had a really pretty shape, it just needed a makeover, so I decided to copy Miss Mustard Seed’s dresser, so I painted it and put sheet music on it.  I was thrilled with it’s new look.  The only problem was, I didn’t really need a dresser.  Shortly afterward, we moved from Missouri to Illinois, and I had no where to go with it, so I put it in my “office”.  If you recall, this office is actually a super old shed, which we remodeled into a guest room earlier this summer.  Brace yourself…the story gets bad here…

Before we remodeled, unbeknownst to me, the roof in the shed/office leaked, and it leaked directly above the dresser, which destroyed the music-covered veneer on top and several of the drawers.  When my husband started gutting the room for the remodel, he just set it outside and used it as a work counter while he worked.  Yes…I feel terrible, but here’s the redeeming part…

Rather than throw it in the burn pile, I decided to see if I could salvage it…a second time.

I spent about a week soaking the veneer with a wet towel and scraping it off, taking it down to the bare wood.  When I had just a small piece of veneer left to remove, I did a Google search and discovered that for very little money I could have bought a heat gun (affiliate link) to melt the adhesive under the veneer, making it easier to remove.  That would have made the job SO much easier.

 The upside of scraping away at the veneer, is I made several gouges in the wood, which look beautiful, now that I stained the top.  It looks naturally aged, rather than freshly sanded and stained.

 While I’m not proud of the fact that it nearly got destroyed, I am very happy with the outcome, and my guilt is lessened.  Some of the paint I had put on with the first makeover chipped off when it got wet, which was perfectly fine with me, since I like the chippy look.  The entertainment center we had under our wall-mounted TV was too long for the space, so this dresser will take it’s place.

Where the 2 top drawers were, is where I’ll put our DVD player and game system.  I planned to put baskets where the center drawer was, but haven’t found any that were the right size that I like, so I’ll just use it as a display shelf for now.

I love the old keyholes in the drawers.  The other large drawer also has a keyhole, so I’ going to try to remove the trashed veneer and see if I can salvage it, as well as the two smaller drawers as well.  I know I can think of some way to use them, if they can be saved.

As I’ve shared in the past, I don’t like our big TV…at all, so my husband is working to impprove its appearance, and once that’s done, I’ll move the dresser into place.  After that, all that’s left to finish up in our living room, is replacing our ugly ceiling fan with an antique brass light fixture.  This room has been half finished for 2 years, so it will be nice to finally have it totally done.

Blessings,