Several weeks ago I revealed part of my living room and my storage solution for my clothes due to teeny tiny closets.

Today I thought I would show you how I refinished the dresser with chalk paint and turned it from drab to fab.

I found this dresser at Habitat ReStore. Here’s what it looked like before. I loved the shape and curves it had, but it was definitely in need of some TLC.

The first thing I did was to take out all the drawers. I wanted to start by painting those first.

Before painting, be sure to take off all the hardware. I kept the hardware all together in a Ziploc bag. I LOVED the original hardware and wanted to it them on the finished product, so it was important not to misplace any screws, etc.

The drawers and the overall dresser needed a good wipe down. There was definitely some dust balls, wads of gum, dead bugs, etc. in the drawers. So, I bought a pack of baby wipes, and gave all the drawers and dresser a good wipe down.

I had some leftover white chalk paint from when I revamped my old kitchen table using chalk paint. The chalk paint is expensive, but I have to say a little goes a long way. One quart covered my entire kitchen table and chairs plus this entire dresser.

Just like my kitchen table, one coat wasn’t enough. After two coats of the paint, I let the drawers dry.

Next, I moved on to painting the dresser base.

One thing I forgot to do {and didn’t discover until I added the drawers back in} is that I failed to paint the small piece of wood below each row of drawers {you can see it in this picture}. Without the drawers it’s not as noticeable. Oops! But, I touched those spots up with paint when it was all said and done.

Next came time to tackle the top. I used my handy dandy sander I got for Valentine’s Day to sand down the top. I liked the idea of staining the top dark to really contrast with the white paint.

Here’s what the top looked like after sanding.

Before adding stain, be sure to pre-stain your wood. I used MiniWax’s Pre-Stain wood condition. Just apply a thin layer and let it dry for 10-15 min. You’ll need to stain within a few hours {directions tell you the specific amount of time}.

Here’s a picture after pre-staining.

For stain color, I went with MiniWax’s Red Mahogany.

Here she is in all her after staining glory. I have to say, the top is my favorite part! I love how it turned out and how you could really see the woodgrain showing through.

After the stain and paint were completely dry, it was time to add the drawers back in.

One thing you may notice from the picture at the beginning of the post and the picture of the dresser in my apartment is the drawer handles on that middle drawer. That drawer handle was actually broken. I was hoping to be able to weld it together and make it work {hence the staging of it on that first picture}. But alas, that didn’t work. So instead I bought two drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby {50% off of course} and used those instead.

I was afraid it would look weird, but I actually like it. Adds interest and character.

Before putting any clothes in the drawers, I wanted to line them with something. Instead of buying standard drawer liners, I used wrapping paper and adhered it with Mod Podge. Here’s a great tutorial from Young House Love where they did the same thing for their nursery.

Now all the drawers look pretty with blue and white striped lining.

I have to say, this is probably my favorite diy project yet.

What’s your favorite diy project you’ve worked on so far?

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