Thrifted Dresser- and Some Tips on Restoring Furniture

About a month or so ago, my daughters and I headed to one of our favorite thrift stores in Williamsburg. It actually ended up being our last stop before heading home. After looking inside the D.A.V. shop for a while and thinking we weren't going to find anything, we decided to leave. On our way out, I spotted some furniture outside (somehow I missed it on our way in) that included 2 dressers and 2 nightstands. Quickly, I checked to price of each piece and I'm sure my jaw dropped. The dresser was listed at $9 and the nightstands, if I remember correctly, were priced at $5! 
Ummm...steal?!   
You would think that with a price tag of $9, I wouldn't even want/need to inspect it...but I did because it's something I always do JUST in case. It looked to be in great shape!
And since I had been looking for a taller dresser for our master bedroom, and finding out it was a Broyhill, I knew we 
would be getting it!! 


SOLD!!!!!!  

Once home, I couldn't wait to get it cleaned up and painted!! 
I wasted no time and started right away. It was in pretty good shape already, but needed a deep clean. My little girl wanted to help with this part and I was all for the extra hand!

After this step, my helper and I put a quick coat of primer on it and let it dry.

Once the dresser was primed and dried, we added a couple coats of BM Dragon's Breath. Highly recommend this color if you are looking for a dark, muddy, gray! It's really a gorgeous color that looks good on cabinets and furniture, in my opinion.

I had decided to keep the original hardware since it was in good shape and just needed a quick clean.


Here is the finished piece in our room!

This is a nice close-up of the dresser- it shows the dental molding near the top that we love and the gorgeous color.

With 5 drawers, there is plenty of storage. We just love it!

This gray also looks great with our wall color- BM Edgecomb Gray- another amazing neutral to use.

Some tips to consider when painting furniture like this:

1. Inspect/Clean- a pretty important step in the process. You want to make sure that before you buy and/or paint, you have checked for any damage and removed any dirt, etc.

2. Primer- I usually always prime our furniture pieces before painting them. This helps the paint bond better to the furniture and creates a smoother finish.

3. Rethink- Before buying all new hardware, think about reusing it. Just clean/polish your hardware and it can look like new.

4. Storage- depending on what you are looking for, it's not a bad idea to think about how much storage you will need before buying something. 

5. Size- this is also important and goes along with tip #4. The reason I chose this particular dresser was because we were looking for the right piece that would "fit" between these 2 windows. I also thought something taller would look best there as opposed to something short and long.

6. Color- I personally think that darker colors look great on furniture. Especially if your walls are lighter in color, going with a darker color is a safe choice.

Hopefully, some of these tips help you see the beauty in any thrifted piece. :)
Not bad for a $9 dresser!