Bedroom Dressers with TV Stand

Ahh, a diamond in the rough.

I started by taking out the top row of drawers. Then, I had to remove all the slides and stops. This step was a little hairy because they were glued on and/or secured by staples. Annoying.

Enter: screwdriver.

While I was pulling stuff off of the dresser I figured I might as well pull off the decorative thing on the bottom. I didn’t care for it, so gone it was.

Then, I sanded done the spot where the decorative thing was.

While I was sanding, I figured I might as well sand down the entire piece. I used a palm sander that Brad brought home from Harbor Freight. Love me some Harbor Freight. Tip: always look for a coupon before you go. I used a sanding block on the drawer fronts and for tight spaces.

I did have to patch a handful of nail holes, so I used some wood filler and sanded the patches when the filler dried.

I blew out the dresser after sanding it because there was some gross stuff inside. You know, like lint, dust, petrified mouse droppings. Fun stuff.

I used a paint sprayer (also from Harbor Frieght) to put on the Zinsser primer (conditioned with Penetrol). I saved hours spraying on the primer rather than painting it on with a brush. Hours.

I did two coats of primer, sanding in between each coat. This. Was. Tedious.

In the middle of all the priming and sanding I took the dimensions of the top shelf so Brad and I could head to Lowe’s and get a piece of wood. I obviously couldn’t fit one big piece of wood on the top shelf, so I split it into three large sections and two small sections so I could fit them in. You know, like a puzzle. We bought a slab of 5/8 inch thick wood. A guy at Lowes cut it into the sections according to my measurements. I like that Lowe’s cuts wood for you. Thanks, Lowe’s!

When we got back I had to see if the pieces fit.

And they did. Further proof that I’m awesome at using a tape measure.

I sanded, primed, sanded, and primed the pieces on all four sides. I always use a cheapo roller and brush when using primer. It’s not worth it to use a nice paint brush. Write that down.