My parents have been in the market for new bedroom furniture for more than a year now. Right now they have a set of miss matched furniture including colonial revival and 1980’s high gloss laminate. (Not exactly stylin’ and profilin’) But every time we looked at the furniture chain stores all we found were pressed wood knock offs or high quality, very high dollar, sets.
Being that I love to shop AND I have a secret desire to open my own Custom Refinishing furniture store I have been keeping an eye out for a dresser for my dad. (Mom has the colonial revival chest of drawers) Two weeks ago I found this beauty tucked in a bedroom at the top of the stairs of a very rickety very old antique store here in town. There was no air conditioning in the building but, I swear to the heavens, when I walked into the room a cool breeze passed over my skin and then I spied this awesome dresser. It was like a love at first sight, romantic movie, on the Lifetime channel!
Then I saw the top of the dresser and it was more like the love that you have 10 years into a marriage. You know…you still love each other but, you are no longer blind to each other’s flaws.
The sales ticket was $160 but, I offered a cool $100 and the owner agreed. Now all I had to do was borrow a pickup truck, tell my parents that they had just bought a dresser sight unseen and convince my husband to help the antique dealer carry it down the 100 year old staircase!
There was no doubt that I would have to sand and refinish the whole dresser to bring it back to it’s original glory. Some of the veneer was no longer glued tight to the top and the tarnished brass handles needed some TLC as well.
I tried to clean the handles with some store bought cleaner but, it wasn’t working very well.
The brass was black as night. 
I scrubbed with the brass cleaner for nearly an hour but, it only helped a little. So I surfed the web and found a general consensus that distilled vinegar was the way to go. After soaking the hardware in vinegar for 30 minutes and then lightly rubbing it with 000 steel wool they looked liked this…
Gorgeous, right? And all thanks to this… 
I sanded the entire dresser with a disk sander (180 then 220 and then 330 grit) and then applied two coats of Minwax rub on Poly in a satin finish. This was the first time I ever used a rub on poly and it was easy to use and great looking. Plus I loved that I didn’t have to clean a brush with mineral spirits when I was through.
Ignore all of the crap in the background and just drink in that handsome top!
It’s a little blurry but, that just because I was swooning a bit from the beauty of it all.
And this morning I put the handles back on the drawers and just stood in my garage in my pj’s and admired the dresser in the morning light. Now that there isn’t a big thick coat of yellowed polyurethane on it you can really see the natural beauty of the cherry wood. It was like a second honeymoon!
I can’t wait to deliver this dresser to my parents house around the block. And I’m glad to know that it is going to a good home 😉
Happy stamping/refinishing,
Mo
I love paper crafts and card making.
cardsbymo 
The dresser came out great. What was your parents reaction? Tony refinishes furniture too. He does the work, I admire the finished products. I have had to put a reign on him or we would become hoarders.
I’d love to feature a piece of furniture he refinished. Especially if it came from an abandoned home that he cleaned out! My parents were really pleased with the dresser. We dropped it off to them today.
did you know that I used to refinish furniture? I refinished a piano that Jeff would not practice on. ask him to play yoho the sailor. I still have the score
I doubt that he could even hum the tune. But at least you have the memory of bringing a beautiful instrument back to its former glory.