Refinished Dresser & Vanity

I’ve used the same dresser for my clothes for the last 30 years.  I’ve refinished it once with a solid red stain about 15 years ago and has been long overdue for an overhaul.  I was inspired by a blog post that can be found here: http://www.naptimedecorator.net/uncategorized/yet-another-look-for-my-husbands-dresser/ and was able to find the same product lines for colours.  I used Minwax Special Walnut stain, and for the grey I ended up using Sherwin Williams Cityscape.

Before – I went through a red wood phase

I also decided to refinish a vanity I’ve had since I was a teenager (bought during my aforementioned red wood phase)

For the vanity, I just needed to rough up the finish, as I was painting it solid

Roughed up

I dismantled it to avoid missed junctions

The top of the dresser had a crack. One side of the crack was higher than the other

I first tried to completely repair it using wood glue, but it didn’t completely correct the flaw

After roughing up the finish on the body of the dresser, I sanded the crack down so that there was not an edge that could be seen or felt

I then filled the resulting dip with wood filler

First coat

The roughed up body

I sanded the drawers down to the raw wood. I then stained them (this is after the first coat)

Painted pieces after first coat

After the first coat, I noticed that the dip/crack was still noticeable, especially in shadows.

So I rouged it up and then reapplied more wood filler

After the second coat of paint (over the second coat of wood filler. It took a 3rd to completely cover the flaw

Reassembled pieces, not quite ready for hardware yet

My vanity with final hardware, back in place. I used this handle from Wayfair.

My dresser back in place with the cabinet pulls installed. I used Verona 3″ Centre Cup/Bin Pulls from Wayfair.