Micheal's Fancy Dresser

We finished the dresser a few weeks back, so I thought I would finally get some pics up. It sat for awhile in the basement as countless other projects took precedence, I finally decided to knock it out when I realized the basement was getting a little crowded with projects. Originally I wanted to strip and stain the dresser. But I'm glad we painted it instead, there were a few "beauty marks" that would have been difficult to minimize, I started to embrace the imperfections when painting the dresser because it added a little character without throwing off the aesthetic (you can see one of these marks on the top left drawer).

I started by removing the hardware and drawers. One of the main reasons we decided to paint the dresser was the realization that it would be nearly impossible to sand the edge carvings. Absent that hurdle everything was sanded using 120 grit paper with the Ridgid palm sander and the final sand by hand. The edge carvings required a little more strategy. Folding a small section of sandpaper over 1" metal square allowed me to get inside the crevices without rounding the edges.

The best lesson from the last dresser I painted was to paint the inside of the drawer slots because when the drawers are closed you can see the unpainted wood from different angles. So this time I taped off the inside of the drawer slots giving them a nice finished edge. To prevent the drawers from scuffing the paint I inserted small felt pads where the drawers would slide across the paint.

Kari used a polyurethane finish on the top to give it more durability. Although it added a little shine to the matte finish there is less fear about scratching the paint. I reattached the original hardware keeping the aged patina. I have yet to sit down and decide where all the clothes will go, so far I've only stocked the sock drawers. I love the short top drawers, because now everything is nicely displayed.