After what felt like forever of searching and failed attempts, I couldn't believe we found the perfect one and our vision for the nursery was becoming more real! From the get go, we knew we didn't want anything bulky and preferred something sleek and not too heavy for the dresser and this mid-century dresser was just the perfect find! I have pinned a bunch of dresser inspiration before on Pinterest to go off of way before I was even pregnant and when I started searching I wasn't going to settle. Most of the adventure/travel themed nursery I was gushing over had a sleek or mid-century style dresser turned changing tables. I knew they were out there, I just had to find the right one for the right price! So, I went through thrift stores, craigslist and offer up for weeks! I've found 3 that I really liked but someone else would beat me to it! These bad boys sell out quick! I was even looking into getting something brand new from Ikea! Luckily when we went, the dresser I wanted was sold out (the Tarva) and the other one (the Hemnes) was out of the price range I was going for. I set a budget of $100 for the dresser, but scored ours for $40 on this phone app called OfferUp!! FOREALS? I was so happy! So was John, he's always so proud of me when I get good deals, saves him money! Lol! For any thrifters, that app is addicting! I had to do a little begging and convincing that we should get it because another person was already going to buy the set! The pregnant card worked! She ended up choosing me! I was at Target when she messaged me and squealed out loud! Ha! I was originally suppose to buy her set of 3 dressers but we have a Kia Sorento and all three would not fit, so I settled and bought two of them instead ($40 each). Im putting one for the new guest room were preparing. So excited! These dressers after it has been repurposed sells for well over $200, and some non repurposed one sell for $100+! This was so meant to be, it matches really well with one of the cribs we have added on our registry!! 

Ok lets get to the revamping of this dresser! First and foremost, before I put anything Ive thrifted in the house I make sure they get cleaned and sanitized in the garage, and this was no exception! The lady that sold it to us must of wiped some type of wood shiner on it because it was pretty grimey! It was in great condition, drawers were clean but the outside was just oily! So I got the handy dandy magic eraser out, some water and vinegar to clean and get the old musty drawer smell out! I didn't even need the ground coffee because the vinegar alone got the stench out! After cleaning the drawers with vinegar, I laid them out in the sun for a few hours before putting them back in the garage and it was ready to be worked on the next day. 

I've been seeing a lot of Chalk Paint recipes on Pinterest so I wanted to try out myself! The only thing bought was the Plaster of Paris (Home Depot) and that brush set from Dollar Tree (yup, im cheap!), everything else we had around the house. John mixed the ingredients and off we started! 

After begging a few times, he finally let me help. He was very hesitant, as any first-time daddy would be! But I reassured him that I researched it and got advice that it was okay as long as I'm in a well ventilated area. Ive seen a lot of mommies paint nurseries during their pregnancy! I had the fan and garage door opened and wore a mask and gloves to help ease his mind a bit! I painted the drawers while he did the dresser. We didn't need to strip or sand it, unlike the other dressers and wood furnitures we've redone, the chalk paint coverage was amazeballs! We did two coats of it before calling it a night! Took us about 2 hours give or take with having to wait in between for the paint to dry off. Which was fine because I was able to cook dinner during the wait time! Oh! My apologies, our garage is a mess! Its been tooo hot to clean out and re-organize!

This was the next day and before we added Minwax's Polycrilyc on it! I went back and forth on either waxing or using polycrilyc for it because most chalk painted furnitures I've looked up used wax, and then I found a blog that said to use polycrilyc for high-traffic furnitures. Well, since this was going to be used as a changing table as well, I knew which one I had to do. I ended up just heading to Walmart to buy a quart of it because we only had Polyutherane at home, and since this furniture is white, I didn't want it turning yellow! I bout the Clean Satin finish and it the shine was perfect! Not too glossy just how I wanted it! The dresser definitely looked a whole lot better, almost brand new! I decided to leave the foot of the dresser untouched to give it a more vintage-modern look with wood exposed like that. Gives it  a little bit of character! Normally we would distress them, but I wanted to leave it just the way it was. Now to add drawer knobs/pulls or not? Hm. We might have to because some the bottom drawers get stuck and is hard to pull out!  

After letting the poly dry overnight, it was ready to be cleaned again and the drawer liners put in! I worked on this earlier today for almost 3 hours (on and off) and by the end of it my back and butt was hurting from sitting on the floor! That gray and white stripe is a gift wrap paper I got at Home Goods for another project I did last year. It was a changing table turned bar (ironically) and used it to line the shelves and I had some left over but not enough to cover all the drawers. I ended up buying a plain white drawer liners. Its laminate and adhesive which made it easier for me! The gift wraps I had to use mod podge to stick them on. 

I still cannot believe we have the first official furniture in the nursery! As soon as John got home and saw that the drawers were done, he went upstairs and moved the mattress from the old guestroom to the new one on the third floor. I had no idea what he was doing until I went upstairs to an empty guestroom nursery! He brought the dresser in and I almost cried! We also put up some other things in the nursery and moved one of our old chairs that we may turn into a glider in the room and we were filled with so much emotion at how our visions for the nursery is slowly coming together. We literally sat in the nursery for 30 minutes just admiring what we had in there so far before getting started on dinner. I don't want to post it just yet! But we are so excited to get it together! Slowly, but surely! Now we just need the months to pass a little quicker so we can have our baby boy home with us!! :)

Chalk Paint Recipe (there are many different recipes, but this recipe is what I used):
2 Cup Paint (left over from the mural)
1/3 Plaster of Paris ($6 at Home Depot)
2 TBS Water

Just mix together! Enjoy! Used 2 coats of Minwax Polycrilyc to finish it off and voila!

We've done a lot of projects for the house when we first moved in and we still do, and occasionally people ask me to blog or vlog about them. I dont know why I never did! Well, here's a start!

Xx,
Jenn