DIY Quick Dresser Makeover

Towards the end of the summer I was convinced that my new room in the house I was moving into at school was much too small to fit anything other than my queen-size bed and a shelving unit. Upon moving in at the beginning of the school year and unpacking said shelf and bed, I realized I had vastly underestimated the size of my room. Thankfully, my mom, being the all-knowing person that she is, held on to an old cheap dresser for me. 

Although it wasn't much to look at, I figured the free, boring dresser was better than buying a nice one, especially for someone with textbook fees fast approaching. Of course, however, a small weekend makeover was necessary so that it would fit in with the design plan of my room.

The Process:

1. I began by wiping it down to exterminate any cobwebs, and clear off the dust. 

2. Then, and this step is CRUCIAL, I checked to see if the dresser was made out of real wood. Turns out, it is not. I had once assumed it was, and planned on having to sand it. Had I gone through with that plan, the pretend wood surface would have been forever noticeably scratched. 

3. With sanding no longer needed, I unscrewed the knobs on the drawers. The original handles were held in with two screws, whereas the new knobs from Hobby Lobby would be held in with one screw. Therefore, I had to fill in the two holes. To fill them, I used a quick dry putty and just pushed it in and smoothed the surface. Then, I grabbed a drill and placed a new hole equally between the two that I'd just filled in.

4. I opted for spray paint instead of the usual can and brush for this project because I had limited time and since the surface was a type of plastic sticker, I needed the finish to be flawlessly smooth. I used Rust-Oleum Universal Black with a Satin finish. WARNING: if you ever use the Universal spray paint, cover everything within a twenty-foot radius. This spray paint is so thick that the little paint cloud that normally just flies off into oblivion will coat whatever it comes in contact with. I did this on my driveway almost two months ago and my parents still claim that there are awkward black lines from where the spray paint breached my newspaper barrier. 

5. Once the spray paint dried (it only took one coat, but about an hour to dry) I twisted in the new knobs, wiped off the excess black residue, and I was finished. 

Here's how it turned out:

My mom also donated a hallway table to my furniture fund, but it too needed a little sprucing. For a cohesive look I did the same process on the hallway table as well and stuck it at the head of my bed as a makeshift headboard/bedside table. Here's an Instagram picture I took of the hallway table post makeover: