Living in a college town, I have a lot of access to very cheap used furniture. It is common that I trade items for used furniture or simply pick it up for free. Recently a friend moved to Illinois and gave her dresser to me for free. Here is a picture of the dresser when I got it:

I had absolutely no intention of leaving the dresser in this condition, so I set out to the craft store for supplies and inspiration. Since I live in an apartment I lack the space necessary to sand down and re-stain a dresser, so I found an alternative method… Martha Stewart makes chalk based paint fir wood and other surfaces that requires no sanding, no priming, no prep-work. You can find an example here. I picked out matte black to match the color scheme of the other furniture pieces I own.  First, I cleaned out the dresser, making sure to wipe off the obvious messes. I laid down a protective lining on my back balcony and painted all of the surfaces of the dresser- the product covered well and dried quickly.

Since I got this dresser for free I had money budgeted to purchase more stylish knobs for the dresser drawers. My local hardware store had a set of brushed nickel knobs that worked perfectly, and didn’t break my budget! While cleaning I found a handwritten note from 1987, written by a 7 year old to his brother. This piece of furniture has a story and now it has a new look! Here is a picture of the dresser after I painted it and replaced the hardware:

Share your re-finishing story with me! Comment below or send me an email!