Dresser Makeover With Ship Lap

A dresser makeover with ship lap? What? 

Yep. We just did it on our last dresser makeover.

I shared a picture on Instagram of the dresser when we spotted it at our local thrift store. A lot of people think I am a little crazy for picking up pieces like this, but wait until you see what we did with it and how it turned out! It was the first piece that sold at our spring yard sale last month!!! 

This dresser makeover was in the works when I spotted the dresser at Goodwill. I had to rescue it.

It was missing a drawer and the rest of it had seen better days, but it still had potential to me.

What caught my eye first was the age of the dresser. It was older so that means real wood; none of that fake stuff you buy in stores today.

Then, the doors on top sealed the deal. How great are they? You don’t see that often and that feature alone made me want to bring it home and breathe new life into it. 

While we were discussing the dresser makeover, Matt came up with two popular words: SHIPLAP.

Let’s add “shiplap” to the sides and bottom to make an open shelf where the drawer is missing?

YASSS! Brilliant idea! Just like Chip Gaines, Matt is getting higher and higher on the design assistant’s ladder. 🙂 

We started the dresser makeover with the shiplap. We used tongue and groove boards we had leftover in the garage.

Look how great it looks already!

We continued the shiplap look for the bottom of the dresser with bigger boards. 

Problem fixed! We have an open, bottom shelf and it looks so much better than having a drawer there. 

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Now, it was time for paint. I used “Picket Fence” from Fusion Mineral Paint on the entire dresser. Then, I removed the leftover veneer that was on the drawer with this technique. Instead of painting, I decided to stain the drawer in “Dark Walnut” Minwax stain. I love the look of paint and stain together (like my navy and stained buffet makeover) and this gave the dresser a little more character and interest. 

Of course, I had to rough up the edges a bit with some sandpaper. The dresser still had some great features on the sides and bottom that I wanted to highlight with a little sanding.

New hardware was the next order of business. The doors got the 1-1/4 IN. FRENCH COUNTRY VINTAGE BRONZE CABINET KNOB from Hickory Hardware and the drawer was blinged out with the 3 IN. CABINET CUP PULL in black. 

The hardware made this piece sing. It was the perfect finishing touch. 

I added the old, wood box to the bottom to show ways to use the open space.

Like I said earlier, this was the first piece that sold at our spring yard sale. The wood box sold right along with it.  

The shiplap sides were the perfect solution to the broken part of this dresser. Way to go, Matt! 

This makeover is going down as one of our favorites. It goes to show that you shouldn’t look past a great deal on a “broken” piece right away. Look it over and get creative. If it can be saved, it is worth it! 

Supply Recap For This Dresser Makeover:

“Picket Fence” from Fusion Mineral Paint

“Dark Walnut” Minwax stain

Sand paper

1-1/4 IN. FRENCH COUNTRY VINTAGE BRONZE CABINET KNOB

3 IN. CABINET CUP PULL

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If you liked this dresser makeover, you will love these transformations:

Painted Round End Table

Bedroom Chest Makeover With Paint, Sandpaper & The Best Paint Brush

Rustic End Table Makeover