Refinished Dresser

Not for sale; this was a commissioned job. Some friends of mine were redecorating their bedroom and wanted to get rid of their faux oak dresser by Ikea. The husband had an Ethan Allen dresser dating back at least to the 1960s, but because it was a bit dinged up and considerably outdated, they understandably didn’t want to use it as-is. So, I agreed to refinish it for them. They wanted it to be gray, a contemporary color and in keeping with the paint on their walls and other furnishings.

The Story

To begin, I fixed a handful of minor structural problems: I used nails to better attach the back to the frame and used glue to repair a loose dovetail joint in one drawer and two other hidden parts of the supporting structure. To refinish the outside, I first used a couple of applications of chemical stripper to help remove the varnish top-coat. Then I used a belt-sander and finally hand-sanding to eliminate the underlying stain and reveal the natural wood. The original finish on the piece, kind of a boring mid-tone brown, seemed as though it was intended to hide or eliminate the variable patterns and tones of the underlying wood grain—which I’m virtually certain is maple. Next, I applied “Weathered Gray” wood stain by Varathane to all all the exposed, external surfaces. I finished it off with three coats of Minwax water-based clear satin Polycrylic, lightly sanding before the third coat. The final touch was putting on some new drawer pulls in a matte/satin black finish. I think you’ll agree that compared with the original, the refinished piece is a lot sleeker and more modern.

Related Items: Wall-Mounted Bedside Nightstands.