Mod-Podging & Painting My Upcycled Dresser

This was my first furniture up-cycling project and it turned out so great! 

I had a lot of help from my mom to get it started and then 

she let me fly free and learn the process on my own. 

I already had a fully functioning dresser in my bedroom, 

but it was an Ikea piece that I originally bought for my first apartment 

and I was living alone.  

So when I got married and had to share the space, 

things started getting crowded. 

3 years later and we finally have a grown-up dresser :)

I actually bought it off KSL for $80.00! 

This thing is solid wood and it's original price was almost $1,000.00 - so I definitely 

lucked out on finding this. 

Pic from the KSL ad I found

This dresser is so big!
I'm 5'7" and it reaches my chin.
I'm definitely going to have to move my jewelry
into a drawer so I can see it all lol.

The previous owner had a very ethnic smell to their home 

so we had to air it out for about a week. 

Once my mom sanded it, it smelled 95% better. 

I didn't take a whole lot of pics of the painting process since it's 

pretty basic across any furniture project. 

I bought my ivory and grey paint from Lowes, 

along with my gloss finish and painting supplies. 

We painted 3 coats of white paint to really cover the darker wood up. 

I then painted 2 coats of gray around the borders of the drawer. 

There was a lot of detail touch-ups. 

It took me a while because I'm such a perfectionist 

and any flaw would have driven me insane lol. 

Once the paint had fully dried after a couple of days, 

I sealed it up with 2 coats of the gloss finish. 

The gloss finish will really keep it from getting 

dinged and scuffed with things sitting and sliding on-top of it. 

//

I knew from the start that I wanted to Mod-Podge the sides and insides of the drawers as well. 

The wood was just too old school for my style. 

White paint would have sufficed, but I wanted to add a cute pattern that reflected 

my personality and style that I would see every time I opened a drawer. 

// Supplies for 6 large drawers// 

1 roll of wrapping paper for the sides of the drawers

1 roll of wrapping paper for the inside of the drawers

1 large container of Mod-Podge

Paint brush

A card or something stiff to push out air bubbles

Scissors

Ruler

Pen/Pencil

Exact-o-knife 

Step 1

Measure the side of the drawer you are going to mod-podge first and measure it out on your paper.

I love that most wrapping paper comes with pre-measured lines.

Step 2

Cut out your squares

I found it easiest to cut out all of my sides at once so I didn't have to keep stopping to cut out more 

Ha love my polkadot knee socks :) 

Step 3

Paint on a layer of mod-podge

Step 4

Place the paper on the drawer and quickly smooth it out with your hands.

This became easier once I enlisted my husband to help; 

the sides kept curling under and made it difficult to keep it straight. 

*You have a few seconds to tug and shift the paper around before it starts the adhesion process

Step 5

Use a card or whatever you plan to smooth the air bubbles out with, 

and slide from the center outwards. 

It was hard for me to accept that I might miss a small bubble or two. 

But I did find that as it dried, some of the bubbles worked their way out anyways. 

Step 6

Paint on a layer of mod-podge over your paper.

Don't do too thick of a layer or it could start soaking your paper too much. 

Let dry

The next morning, I used my exact-o-knife to trim off the paper that was hanging over the edges. 

*Wait for the paper to fully dry or the wet glue will make this impossible

I found that my hand wasn't as steady as I would have liked 

and I was scrapping off paint as I trimmed the paper. 

Once I accepted that this was part of my process it made trimming so much faster.

I just touched up my chipped paint with a Q-tip once I was finished. 

I seriously used a Q-tip for all of the touch-ups on the entire dresser. 

I was able to really get into the corners and really get up close and fix any imperfections.

The dresser was fully dry by now and I was able to start drilling holes for the knobs. 

We bought my knobs from Hobby Lobby. 

They have such a HUGE selection of knobs and I love the mix we did with mine. 

My mom drilled the holes and I helped Tyson screw in the knobs - a lot harder than I expected lol. 

And Voila! 

I'm so happy with the way the entire dresser turned out! 

A couple of the drawers rub together a bit 

but for an older, beautiful up-cycled dresser, 

I'm okay with that imperfection. 

I'm still putting the decor together for the top of the dresser. 

As I mentioned before, it's almost as tall as I am 

so I'll have to move my jewelry into my drawer 

and the top will be more for decor. 

I bought this beautiful mirrored tray off of Amazon for $20.00! 

It's so elegant and I love mirrored furniture. 

I also bought this ring holder for another $20.00 on Amazon. 

It's so simple and a sturdy piece of metal. 

(I about died when I dropped my wedding ring and a diamond fell out!
I can't wait to get it fixed and cleaned up one of these days!) 

I just need to find a couple of more items 

and I definitely want another small vase of flowers like I have on my nightstands. 

I LOVE my mirrored nightstands

My room is finally coming together and I only have a few more things left to get! 

Once everything is in place I'll post about the decor I've got in there; 

it's beautiful, bright, and I love it!