So I bought this lovely dresser the other day at Goodwill. It was painted AND a couple of the drawers were broken. Not anything a little sanding and wood glue couldn't fix....Or so I thought.
Aww Look at the cute little cow boy boots (They were totally not staying. Don't worry)
So I start sanding my pretty little heart out and low and behold there are FOUR layers of paint. Not one or two or even three but FOUR. What the heck! Who paints that many layers on furniture?! To add to my annoyance, I finally get to the "wood" and its........Drum roll please. Freaking pressed wood. Awesomeness!
Lessons learned:
Don't buy furniture that is already painted from anywhere (seriously who needs the extra work AND it could be lead based paint)
Inspect your "wood" pieces thoroughly to make sure the said item is actually wood.
Now I have a question for you. What should I do? A) Toss the dresser and take the loss B) Finish sanding it down and repaint it with oil based enamel (apparently that's all that adheres to pressed wood) C) Sand down bottom and paint, then ADD a wood top to the dresser with planks of REAL wood.
What should I do people?? I am leaning towards chucking it.
Michelle
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11 comments:
totally agree!!! i avoid buying pieces that are already painted- TOO MUCH WORK! and sometimes someone has done such a crappy job that working with what they did is so hard!
Gosh, I don't know! I really love the curvy drawer on the bottom and the legs. I think it depends on if you are going to keep it or sell it. If you are going to sell it, then it probably isn't worth the time. But if you have the perfect place for it then it might be worth the effort.
I agree with Cassie, buying already painted furniture is such a hassle (unless it's already painted my desired color). I wouldn't chuck it-only bc I'd feel guilty for wasting it. Is there anything you can up cycle it into? Maybe the drawers can become shelves (like in the recent Do It Yourself magazine cover) or you could go w/ plan C. :( Of course, chucking it would definitely be last resort. I've also learned from thrifting to NOT buy a power wheels car with a damaged battery. Ugh! People these days--selling junk just to make a quick buck. Keep us posted!
Ahhhh, I think those little cowboy pulls are adorable!
Maybe you could mod podge it
Par5ons that is a brilliant idea! I hadn't thought of that. Now my ideas a flowing. Thanks for the inspiration :)
Ack! I hate when I get stuff like this. Most everything in my house is thrifted or hand me down furniture that we've refinished.
The shape and style of it is awesome. Can you just sand it up and spray paint it then varnish it. I did that to a piece I had a similiar experience with and it turned out pretty cool.
Good Luck.
liZ
(simplesimonandco)
Keep it..enamel or stencil or MP it as already suggested or add overlays..It is a nice piece with a great shape.
Maps, music sheets, brown paper for a leather look, stamps. Theres are a gazillion things I can think of to cover the top. Paint the rest black?
As long as you use a bonding primer you don't have to use an oil based paint and you can even spray paint it for the topcoat. At this point you've done so much work you might as well keep it and repaint it.
As a long time furniture painter my question is, do you want to invest more time and money into a piece that isn't even real wood? If the answer is no, stop. If the answer is yes, then go. I would chalk it up to a lesson learned and move on.
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