Thursday, March 21, 2013

Friends with Dressers

A few years ago, when I started re-doing furniture, there were only a few blogs I read. They were my inspiration and Kirsten at White Butterfly Furniture was one of them. I loved every piece she did and she seemed so real. Oh and she had 3 boys at the time...like me. She now has 4 boys and she makes it look easy!

Long story short, Kirsten recently moved about 20 min from me! I finally met her in person when we were all sweaty at the gym. We hugged and it was instant friendship!

Last week, my husband and I decided that our 7 year old and 5.5 year old couldn't room together anymore...for various reasons, but mainly because waking up at 5:45 am and giggling until 7:00am was becoming the norm. Not ok. That and the semi-nude wrestling that ensued when getting dressed in the morning. Moms of boys, can I get a "holla!"? Are my boys the only ones? If so, I don't want to know.

So we moved Mr. C (almost 6), to our guest room. We never use it anyway...but it was very girly. I emptied it out and we started fresh...but I needed a dresser.

Now, am I the only one who feels like thrift shops and Craigslist have become overrun with people who want to paint furniture? I mean, I love that people want to do this, but it is making it difficult to find decent pieces for cheap.

I emailed a few people, Kirsten being one of them, to be on the lookout for a dresser during their thrifting adventures.

She wrote me back and said she had one in her garage...turns out it was the perfect size!

Before:



This was after I jimmied the drawers out..they were STUCK. And one drawer was in pieces. I decided that I didn't even want to bother with fixing it...baskets were going to be used in place of a drawer.

I have a barn door headboard that I'm working on, so I wanted the dresser to have a "rustic boy vibe"...if there is such a thing.

After trying red, dark mustard and a medium blue (all of these colors remain under the final color...stripping is my least favorite and we're keeping this), I ended up with this:




Rustic top and drawers..waxed and buffed.




Baskets from Home Goods. Love.





My kid loves it and he's loving having his own space. Stay tuned for the headboard. It's going to be awesome!

~Allison Furniture Feature Fridays Photobucket The Shabby Nest
Liz Marie Blog

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31 comments:

Cassie Bustamante said...

it looks awesome! i love the two toned on this one!
how awesome that you and kirsten have met and become friends- i feel like i have followed her from the beginning, too- she is so sweet and adorable!

Kirsty said...

It turned out beautiful, uh...manly, 6 year old manly. I love the baskets too. Thank you for the kind words. You are so sweet, and thank you too Cassie! Of course, I'm totally crying. And now I'm going to go eat some Easter candy.

Anonymous said...

I love the finished product... love, love the baskets too. I'm pinning. Little Bit

Unknown said...

It turned out fabulous!!! Love the baskets
Hugs,
Suzan

sheerserendipity said...

The dresser looks amazing! Love the two tones and the baskets! Great transformation!

Jamie-So Much Better With Age said...

Oh, I love this! I love baskets in a dresser and two toned. You did a fantastic job! I'm your newest follower ;)
Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com

Brandi said...

Awesome makeover! I love the baskets. Such a cute idea!

Unknown said...

It looks great. .glad you went with kirsten's dresser!!

Stephanie@New Again said...

I LOVE this piece! Great job. :)

Irene said...

I love your piece, you did a great job. On the boy front, I separated our boys too, one was a sleeper the other not so much, I regret it to this day. I believe they could have caught up on their sleep and learned to be considerate, and could have had the brother time at bedtime I had with my sisters, it made us close. I don't know that that made a huge difference in my boys relationship, but I'll always wonder. If they want to get back together let them.

Rita said...

you did such an amazing job with that dresser. great color combination and the baskets are just perfect for the dresser.
rita

Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. said...

Love the two-toned look and the baskets! And yay for making new friends!

Debbie @DewdropGables said...

I love how it looks! Especially that you kept the top and drawers 'woody'. It really sets off the colour of the rest of the dresser. The baskets are the perfect touch.
Debbie :)

Megan said...

I love this one! Nice work. Also, two boys here . . . yeah up at 5:45 is the norm here. Sigh. Currently our 5 year old is sleeping in our guest room most nights. We're debating between moving and just giving up our guest room. Sigh. Oh, and if yours are only half naked wrestling. . . well, you're doing better than we are!

Emily Thompson said...

that turned out SOOO cute! I love the idea of taking out a drawer and using the baskets....
www.nap-timecreations.com

Honey and Me said...

I love it! The colours are perfect! I am so going to re-do my sons dresser and get rid of some of the drawers...he never closes them anyways!
I'm newly following via both Google and Linky and am so happy to have found you via the Homemaker on a Dime blog hop! Hope you stop by and visit me at the Little Shack!

Diana of Diana Rambles said...

I love how it turned out!

Lisa @ HouseOfFabForLess said...

I absolutely love this! Great job and the baskets just give it so much character!

Donna Wilkes said...

Great job on the refinishing. Love the stained top and drawer fronts with the painted sections. Baskets might make it easier for little boys to stow their clothes.

My Repurposed Life said...

Allison! Your two-toned dresser is sooo pretty. Great job!

gail

Unknown said...

Sharing this GORGEOUS dresser on FB and Pinning!! It is so wonderful :)

xo, Tanya
twelveOeight

Jeanette@Creating a Life Studio said...

What a great project! My 5 year old son has a room to himself for the first time recently, also. I'm going to be looking for some "project pieces" for his space too. Thanks for the inspiration!

Jeanette

Unknown said...

This is absolutely gorgeous! I love that you kept the original wood on the drawers; haven't seen that before. And those baskets just complete the look. Brava!

Warmly,
Lauren
The Thinking Closet

Unknown said...

Hi, the dresser is beautiful. I have been working on a similar piece for my son and daughter in law who are expecting a little boy in July. I love the color of the stain that you used, can you tell me what it is? Please
Thank you
Debbie
daubin56@yahoo.com

Bliss said...

Stopping in to pin, I love it!

Bliss

Miranda @ Someday Crafts said...

This is gorgeous!! And I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has a hard time picking a color. We'll be featuring this over at Someday Crafts tomorrow, so top by if you have a minute!

Cher-Ann Texter said...

What a fantastic transformation! Stopping by from the Beneath My Heart March linky party!

Cher @ Designs by Studio C
http://designsbystudioc.com

Gloriously Made said...

I am also new to the blogging world as of January. I am wanting to get into redoing old furniture like you are doing. You've inspired me to go out and find something to paint.
Thanks,
Deanna
gloriouslymade.blogspot.com

Korrie@RedHenHome said...

This looks SO good!!

Unknown said...

We founded a great store that sell furniture.
They sell murphy beds, closets, and complete home office furnitures directly to the publics.

Greg Hill said...

I really enjoyed your upcycled dresser. Very nice colors you chose. If you get the chance I would like you to check our My furniture blog.
Thanks.
http://gregsresurrectionstore.blogspot.com/