Monday, August 16, 2010

Dresser Makeover


One more thing done in the big boys room! I showed you a sneak peek of this dresser badly in need of some repair.  It's actually a changing table that you can flip over into a dresser.  The drawers rotate too.  It's made of pine and has a ton of dings, but otherwise a solid dresser.


The hardware didn't fit very well with our vision for the room.   


I really, really longed to have this furniture and Knock-Off Wood has the plans for it all!  The problem is that my son's room is teeny-tiny, and frankly...I don't think I could muster enough energy to build all that! So, I started thinking and wandered around all over Knock-Off Wood.  I wanted to keep the dresser for my son's clothes and give him some storage space.

I found the HUTCH plans, and I think they are brilliant! I haven't had the chance to build any of her plans yet, and I have to say....it was really fun, even in that hot garage.  It reminds me of all the Lego's I built with my son over the years, connect here and here and you end up with this creation! I had a ball! 


I picked up some pine boards to match the dresser and cut all the boards to size.  I altered the hutch to fit the dresser and the height of the room.  


I sanded, filled and primed/painted the board before I assembled.  I used a paint and primer in one by Behr.  I'm really not sure if it was any easier to do it that way?  The finished product still required a lot of repair and painting.  I made a lot of mistakes that had to be fixed! ;)



If you remember from my earlier post, I did this while my husband was out of town.  We finished the last coat of paint and I was anxious to see how it would all fit together.  I had my nine year old son help me lift this sucker up on the dresser to see how it looked.  I have to say we were really pleased.  The pictures don't show how large it really is. 


Here's it is in his room.  I had a hard time getting the pictures to show the accurate color. 
 It's much darker in person.


We filled it with all the things my son loves and he is happy as a clam!


I did add some dividers on the top to look more like the inspiration picture.  I noticed most of Knock-Off wood's hutch plans have these too.

It really adds a lot of height to the room and fits well with the room size.


There are the "ball cages" or freezer baskets that fit so well on the shelves.

The shelves are 12" boards,  so it's roomy enough to fit large items.

Now, I did not want in any way....for this thing to fall down and crush one of my kids.  So, I headed to Home Depot and asked the guy how to secure it.  He suggested using L-brackets and adhering to the top with screws and into the studs of the walls.


I also added more security and counter-sunk some holes and put long screws into the studs.  It feels safe and secure, because I KNOW my monkeys will be scaling the wall to steal their brother's stuff. 

I also ran into another problem.  The hutch was now flush with the walls, but the dresser wasn't because of the baseboards.  The dresser hung down and it took me some time to figure out how to fix this. 

Shims!
  You just push them in on the bottom and cut off when it fits.  The shims pushed the dresser up so hutch sat flush on the dresser.  No gaps!


I added new hardware.  I went with the simple, brushed nickel, industrial-looking handle.  It fits well with the silver in the room and the containers on the shelves.


Here it is before -because it so fun to compare! :)


There you go!  The headboard is next and I'll share a couple of other projects I have in mind with you this week.  There's a few important things I learned from building Knock-Off Wood's plans.  Having two sets of hands is best and BE SURE to use a square!  Thanks again Ana for sharing your plans-I have caught the building bug!

Furniture Feature Fridays

18 comments:

Natasha in Oz said...

My son would love this-I love it too! The new hardware looks great and the colour is fabulous-great job!

Best wishes,
Natasha.

Emily {Frilly Details} said...

Wow, what a fantastic piece!! Love the color and the new hardware. Great job!!

Debra Lea said...

You did a fantastic job, it looks really great!

Korrie@RedHenHome said...

WOW! I *so* want to try to build something from Knock Off Wood, but I haven't been brave enough yet. You did a great job!

Lyndsey said...

I love building-- I just posted about all the gun furniture we have built with her plans!! You did awesome!!!

Julie @ Not Too Shabby said...

LOVE IT!!!!!! Great color.

Momma Button said...

What an impressive project! And I love that you made it without the hubs.

Ali @ Honey and Maple Syrup said...

That looks amazing! Can't wait to see the whole room come together!

My Cottage Charm said...

Hey Candace! I'm glad to see you found some plans that worked. I am finally finished with my son's built-ins that I was telling you about when your son first asked to have you build that room for him. :) I'll be posting the whole thing on Monday if you want to come see. It sure did take a while, but it was worth it, it's so darn cute! :) I absolutely adore how your hutch turned out! Makes me want to build it just for the fun of it! I need to do something in my office eventually and that would make a great top for my office desk too. :) hmmmm....now I am thinking! lol
Have a great week
HUGS and Blessings!
Missy

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

fabulous job! It turned out great. It's all coming together!
gail

Lucrecia said...

I am seriously very impressed! It looks amazing! Your son is very lucky!!

Jess said...

Looks awesome. Love Ana's site. Even if you can't/don't follow her plans exactly, you still get the confidence to make something.

steph said...

what?!! you're awesome candace! i love it! ...and you. and i miss you!

Day before Michelle said...

Wonderful! IT looks positively amazing!!

Cheryl said...

Love seeing the updates on baby izzy the squirrel.

Anonymous said...

I flagged this when you posted and am just now getting around to commenting. :-(

What a great result! You did a wonderful job. I'm going to include this in an upcoming DIY spotlight post if you don't mind.

Jodz said...

I love the colour you chose. It looks fab.

GennieG said...

Hi! I'm new to your blog! Love all the things you make. This dresser is amazing. My sons room is a mess and I need to do something in there. Thanks for the inspiration!

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