First Dresser project

Initially, our plan was to sell the first dresser we refinished since it was free and we already had dressers for both of us. After being listed on Craigslist for awhile without any bites (except that one scammer) we decided to keep it for ourselves. Then while driving to take the dogs on a hike, we ran across a nice looking 5-drawer tall dresser set out for the trash. Of course we couldn't let this slip, so we grabbed the dresser and took it back to the workshop.

We haven't really been able to figure out much about this specific dresser in terms of its origin. So if you recognize it, please let me know! I didn't realize at first that the side and top paneling was just a veneer pasted onto composite board. My assumption was there was good wood underneath the ugly veneer. I was wrong, making my job a little more difficult

You can see the ugly veneer here. Seriously who likes this stuff? The entire dresser was covered in the veneer stuff, sorry I am so bad at taking pictures. Thankfully underneath the drawer faces turned out to be a nice pine surface as well as the front two posts.


Had to pry off all the crappy siding. Some good bones underneath.


More sanding.


And voila! Magically the dresser looks awesome. Had to buy some real pine paneling for the sides and top. Routed the top panel to fit more with the curves. Added the blue accents in the same style as the first dresser. Unfortunately I couldn't find a direct handle match, guess that is what happens when you pull things out of the clearance bin. But the ones on there now are pretty close. Other than striping off the veneer, the work that needed to be done for this dresser was mostly cosmetic. And now we have matching dressers!