DIY Dresser Makeover

This dresser was a lot of fun to find at a yard sale. 

When I pulled up to the end of the driveway of this sale, all I saw were tables and tables of clothes. I almost drove away but then told myself that it only takes a minute to walk up there and browse around.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this dresser among all the clothes.

Okay, wait….

This dresser was up there.

It was missing some of the veneer and I did not like the handles at all.

But, it was sturdy and big. It had tons of storage and the handles could be removed.

I saw a lot of potential in this dresser and the $2 price tag sealed the deal.

When I told the lady at the sale I was going to get the dresser, she kind of chuckled. She said that the dresser was the “joke” of the sale. They didn’t think anyone would buy it. It was in her husband’s family for a long time and she finally talked him into getting rid of it. I told her I was excited to take it home and give it a makeover. She was excited to hear what I did and wanted to follow along with my blog to see the makeover.

Not only was the front missing veneer, but the veneer on each side was pretty bad too. That never scares me because I discovered the easy way to remove veneer from furniture!

One of the best things about this dresser is the top drawer.

It doesn’t have handles on it like the other drawers and it is rounded. The “handle” is notched out underneath it!

Then, I found this on the inside of the top drawer.

I love finding stamps on furniture because I can find out a lot about it. When was it made? Who made it? What style is it?

What did people do without the internet back in the day?

This is what I found out from the Encyclopedia of Chicago:

“In 1902, Peter E. Kroehler bought the Naper ville Lounge Co., a maker of wooden lounge chairs and upholstered furniture. Kroehler built a new factory in Naperville in 1913 after the original facility was destroyed by a tornado. Soon thereafter, he renamed the company Kroehler Manufacturing Co. This enterprise soon operated across the country and employed several hundred men and women in the Chicago area. By the middle of the 1940s, with over $20 million in annual sales, Kroehler was the second-largest furniture maker in the United States. During the 1960s, when the company employed close to 8,000 people around the country, annual revenues passed $100 million. The company struggled during the 1970s, closing its historic Naperville factory in 1978 and ending its operations in the area.”

So fun to know.

After I removed all the veneer and took the handles off, I filled in the holes and sanded it all down.

I painted everything a soft gray color, but left the front trim and bottom portion unpainted.

I love the contrast.

Then, I added these amazing Bail Pulls from Hickory Hardware.

I am in love with these pulls.

They made this dresser so much more interesting, don’t you think?

{Affiliate links are used in this post. You can read my disclosure HERE.}

This dresser came with a lot of stories; how I bought it, the family it came from and the information I found out about it on the internet. You can’t get any of that when you walk into a furniture store and buy something from the showroom floor.

This dresser is going to a friend’s house where it will continue to make great stories.

If you don’t have an old dresser to make over, here are some beautiful options I found:

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If you liked this DIY Dresser Makeover, you will love these makeovers:

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