Vintage Dresser Makeover In Green

This vintage dresser makeover in green is a great example of how you can bring a thrifted piece back to life in a few steps. 

If you are subscribed to my YouTube video, you saw my thrift store shopping trip and what I brought home with me a couple of weeks ago.

This dresser was one of the things I bought. 

When I saw this dresser across the store, I couldn’t get to it fast enough to get a closer look and find the price.

The dresser was $35 just like the DIY Vintage Buffet Makeover I did in December. 

The price was great, but when I got closer, I saw why. 

There was a big “bubble” on the top of the dresser. There was also a good-sized stain on the top of the dresser. When I saw this, I started planning the makeover and what I needed to do to bring this dresser back to life. 

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Supplies Used In This Vintage Dresser Makeover 

Paint – “Evergreen”

BOSS

MUD (to fill the top of the dresser)

My Favorite Paint Brush 

Heat Gun

Small Putty Knife

Orbital Sander

Dark Wax

Stain

The first thing I had to do was get the “bubble” removed from the top of the dresser.

I have figured out The Easy Way To Remove Veneer From Furniture and used that method. But, I found a trick that made that process look even faster. After I let the towels sit over night, I used the heat gun and a small putty knife on the veneer. The heat from the heat gun and the wet veneer make it come up so so easy!

This process made the veneer come off so well. The top of the dresser was a clean slate of raw wood again. 

At this point, I noticed some divots in the wood. They weren’t major at all, but I thought I would fill them anyway.

My favorite product to fill wood like this is MUD from Dixie Belle Paint. It is so easy to apply and works like a charm in filling holes and divots like this dresser had. 

I put a thin layer of the MUD on the areas that needed filled. Once it was dry, I sanded the entire top of the dresser to make it smooth and ready for paint. 

I really wanted to paint this dresser to look like the desk in my office.

 

I first applied BOSS to the entire dresser to ensure that there wasn’t any bleed-through after I applied the paint.

Once the BOSS dried, it was ready for the magic to happen.

I chose this color and my favorite paint brush to transform this dresser. 

The paint brushes from Zibra Paint are the absolute best paint brushes for any painting project. They come in all shapes and sizes, so you can get the exact paint brush you need for whatever painting project you have. If you are frustrated with the paint brushes you have been using (like I was), please do yourself a favor and try these brushes out. Once you use them, you will wonder where they have been all your painting life. They will make your painting work easier and less frustrating. Take it from someone who does a lot of painting. These paint brushes are a necessity.  

Once I got the dresser painted, I decided to leave the drawers unpainted.

I needed to remove the veneer off the drawers so I could sand them down and stain them. I used the same technique on the drawers as I did the top of the dresser to remove the veneer. 

The green color is so pretty, but I really wanted it to look like my desk so I put dark wax all over the painted part of the dresser. The wax made the green color deeper and richer. I LOVED what it did to the color. It was perfect. 

I decided to stain the drawers a dark color.  Once the stain was dry, I put the hardware that is came with, back on.

 

This vintage dresser makeover has come a long was since I picked it up at the thrift store. Pieces like this that have a “defect” like a bubble in the veneer is destined for the landfill. People don’t think there is a way to fix it. 

My goal for these posts and projects is to equip you with the “how to” and the inspiration to look at pieces like this a little harder.

Not only can you save so much money shopping this way, but you come away with a custom piece that fits your style perfectly. 

Would you have picked this piece up if you saw it? 

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If you liked this makeover, you will love these transformations:

DIY Vintage Buffet Makeover

French Provincial Dresser Makeover

DIY Nightstand Makeover For Teen Girl’s Bedroom