I love a good DIY project!

I have been on the lookout for a dresser for the boys for a while now. 

We were previously using the trundle bed as their "dresser" and it was a pain for the boys to try and open and close (because they couldn't do it). It just wasn't very practical for them or me. Plus we have been talking about moving Zayden into the trundle bed when he's old enough-- boy will it be a party in their room at night when those three are in there! 

I was looking on Craigslist for one, but with no luck. The ones I liked were overpriced and the ones that were in the price range I wanted to pay were either cheap, ugly, or lacked any sort of style. My criteria for  this future dresser was that it needed to have at least 9 drawers, clean lines, and be $50 or less. 

While we were at goodwill donating some of Tyler's old work shirts I happened to wandered over the 'furniture section' which is usually pretty slim pickings cuz it's such a small corner, but they had this dresser that looked like exactly what I'd been searching for. 

9 drawers -- check!

Clean lines-- check! 

$50 or less -- check! (It had been marked down three separate times and was only $39.99!)

AND the coolest part, in my opinion was the hardware, so cool!

I fell in love................ with the dresser that needed some major TLC. 

So I convinced Tyler into buying it, promising it would be great when I was finished and we brought it home that day. (I think he's finally starting to trust me when I tell him that.) Well with birthday celebrations, Easter weekend and all... it took some time to get it all done. Realistically I think I spent 3 days in total refinishing it. 

Not too shabby. 

I was so excited to get started I forgot to take an official ugly "BEFORE'" shot, so this it it, halfway through priming and testing out spray paint, with hardware removed... :( 

I must say it is quite solid and is very well made. All drawer tracks slide easily and that funky cupboard thing in the middle reveals three smaller drawers (perfect for undies and socks). It had some sort of "laminate" looking finish on it and I was worried I wouldn't be able to sand it down to finish it, but turns out it was just a poly finish. I didn't, however, feel up to sanding the whole thing down by hand so I just simply primed it... problem solved. 

Okay, so here's the only picture I have of the hardware's original color. Kind of a brass-y color. Not really my fav... but I still thought the actual hardware was way cool and gave it a more "boyish" feel to the overall piece of furniture. 

And here's the "AFTER": 

Eventually I'll get pictures of each of the boys into those frames (especially when Z moves to the "big boy room") but for now I stuck in some leftover fabric from my curtains and pillows that I made for their beds when we first moved in. 

And once it COMPLETELY dries (stupid rainy weather) I can display some of their cooler toys on top as well as put out books that won't fit in their bookshelf. 

Amazing what a little elbow grease can do, huh? 

Oh, and I'm still working on our living room chair... it only needs some piping to finish it and then I post pictures of that! 

Hooray for finished projects! :)