Repurpose project: from a dresser to a buffet

[before]

[after]

Here she is in all of her golden splendor. ;)

When I was in high school, my parents took an old dresser that was painted in an olive, sort of army green color and they completely changed its appearance.  They removed all the paint and gave the wood a beautiful finish.  The transformation was fascinating to me and I remember thinking that someday I wanted to do something amazing with a piece of furniture.

Well, many Pinterest pins later someone offered me a dresser she no longer wanted.  It was the perfect opportunity for me to let loose all that inspiration that had built up over the years.  :)  

I did my research, gathered my materials and couldn't wait to get started!  First, I used wood filler on the nicks and scratches in the wood.  Since I knew I wanted to update the hardware, I also used wood filler on the cabinet doors to cover up the impressions left by the old hardware.  After that, I sanded and primed.  Obviously, a lot of prep work was involved before I could get to my favorite part...that yellow paint!  I chose Valpar's "Gala Gold".  I love this yellow!

For the painting, I used a combination of a brush and a foam roller.  I used a brush to get the paint into all of the grooves and crevices and I used a foam roller to smooth it all out.  This worked very well and I was able to avoid the issue of having brush strokes all over the wood.  I am, of course, an amateur but when I went shopping for a clear coat finish to protect the paint, the store did not have the product that was recommended online.  And so, with a little help from the store clerk I settled on "Clear Protector" by Valspar.  Hopefully it does it's job well.  I just kept wondering if I had made the right choice but so far, so good.

This was such a fun project!  Since I'm not much of a power tool person (yet!), my husband installed the new hinges.  It took a few tries to finally settle on a hinge that would work best for those doors.  After installing one of them we ran into a slight problem.  Since we installed new hinges, the doors did not have the same amount of space as before.  But my husband had a great idea.  Thankfully, the door on the right had a "spacer" in between the cabinets.  A strip of wood that we could simply cut down to size.  With a little help from a friend who has a saw, our problem was solved!  It all came together in the end and I am so happy with the results!

Now, time to store those tablecloths, napkins and who knows what else?!  It will come to me, I'm sure!