Little Girl Dresser Project

My new favorite pastime is redoing old furniture so here is a look at my latest project.  My little girl has finally gotten to the point where she needs a dresser.  The bins and baskets I used for her baby clothes don't hold near as many toddler clothes...shocking right?  Anyways I looked at dressers but nothing really seemed to fit and I wanted something that would make the transition from nursery to her little girl room.  An old hand-me-down lingerie dresser that has been sitting empty in guest room was the perfect size for her room just not the right color.  So hence my next project...

This is the only before picture I took (ugh sorry).  It is only of the drawers but the rest of the dresser looks the same as these drawers.  First step for me is always to sand, sand and sand! It's annoying and dusty but necessary.  I would definitely recommend buying a sander.   You can find some that are pretty inexpensive and still work great.  This is the one I use "1/4"" Finishing Sander QS900"  and I got it on sale at Amazon for around $25.  Someday I would like to upgrade to an orbital sander but for the money this one is just perfect.  

Next step is to prime the drawers and dresser.  I apply primer in super thin coats and use about 3 coats to fully cover everything.  Make sure you allow for plenty of drying time in between coats.  Next I paint!  After lots of back and forth I finally decided on white with a small pink border around the drawers.  I always have a tough time actually committing to a color...(which is why the all the walls in my house are still white).  I use the same system with the paint as I do with the primer.  Thin coats, lots of drying time in between and as many as it takes to get it fully covered.  

My next step was the hardware.  I scoured the internet for hours searching for the perfect handles but couldn't find anything that was both adorable and in my budget.  So out came the spray paint. 

I sprayed the original handles silver and added a sparkly gem to the center with a hot glue gun.  Loved the way they turned out.

...And the finished product!!