Furniture repair can be a tricky thing, but we have found an easy way to fix a broken dresser drawer.
Over the years, we have rescued all kinds of furniture that we have seen potential in. At first, it was a way to save a ton of money on beautiful furniture for our home. Then, we fell in love with the process and it became a hobby and now, it is part of my full-time job. It is so much fun and I am so grateful that Matt loves DIY projects too.
A lot of pieces I rescue aren’t in perfect condition. There is usually something I have to look past when I find pieces to bring home and make over.
For this particular dresser, one of the top drawers was broken. It was missing the bottom and back.
Matt has fixed many drawers like this and when I was talking to him about this one, I thought about the blog. Why haven’t I shared this project on here before? DUH! So many people would not buy a dresser if one of the drawers was like this, but that shouldn’t stop the purchase. It is an easy fix and we are going to show you how we do it.
ON A SIDE NOTE**** I love when I find pieces like this that are broken or need repair because that usually means the price is super cheap. That was the case with this dresser. I found it at a yard sale and the man said since the drawer was broken, he just wanted to get rid of it. SCORE!
The first step to this furniture repair project is to take off the two remaining sides of the drawer.
Then, Matt cut the dovetails off the back of each side. He left the dovetails on the front because we had the front of the drawer.
Next, Matt took out the other drawer that was intact and measured it to get the dimensions for a new bottom and back side of the drawer.
We use a thin plywood for the bottom of the drawer.
Matt marked the dimensions for the bottom of the drawer on the plywood and cut it out with a circular saw.
Then, it was time to cut for the back of the drawer.
We used a thicker piece of wood for that.
He did the same thing as the bottom. He measured the back of the other drawer for the dimensions, marked the board and cut it out.
Once all pieces were cut out, it was time to put the drawer back together.
Matt used the nail gun to put the sides, back and bottom back on the drawer.
The drawer is perfect now and works perfectly in the dresser. He did add a scrap piece of wood to the underside of the bottom for extra support. You can see it in the photo below.
Now, it was time for me to make the rest of the dresser a lot prettier than when I brought it home.
I mixed a couple of colors from Dixie Belle Paint to come up with a color for the piece.
After the paint dried, I roughed up the edges of the dresser with sandpaper.
Then, I put a top coat all over the dresser.
I added new hardware from Hickory Hardware to finish it.
The dresser is beautiful now!
I love these posts because I want to encourage you and inspire you to look past the ugly and broken things and see if there is still potential in a piece you love. Most of the time, it can be saved and can be just what you want. It just takes a little more elbow grease and creativity, but in the end, you have custom decor for your home that is done by you. It makes your home full of character and charm.
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Supply Recap For This Furniture Repair Project:
Sandpaper
Thin Plywood
Piece of wood for the back of drawer
Now that you have seen how easy this furniture repair project is, would you pick up a dresser with a broken drawer?
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love all the details in your posts, so easy to follow along!!!
Sometimes simple is the best way for a repair! Like the flat back with a block for support as an alternative to a dado or groove (not everyone has a table saw) to fix the drawer.