How to refurbish a dresser!

When I re-did Brooklyn's room I mentioned that I wanted to refurbish the dresser. I have wanted to for a long time but never have and honestly I didn't know if I ever would.... well I did!!!! So I thought I would share the process with you in case you ever feel inspired to change up your furniture! I definitely learned A LOT so hopefully next time I won't spend as much money or time at Lowe's!
This is the original dresser...

All sanded... I LOVED the way that it looked when it was just the wood. I used a hand sander and went over the whole dresser with a heavy grit sandpaper, this will remove the varnish/paint from the surface. I then switched to a medium grit and finally a fine grit to smooth the wood out and prepare it for painting. As you can see this dresser has a lot of detail and I should have sanded the grooves by hand (the electric sander was too big for the tiny details). I didn't but like I said I should have

After sanding I primed the dresser. This is where I learned A LOT. There are lots of different primers and I really wish that I would have done a little more research before I bought any. In my defense I did ask the lady at Lowe's but she wasn't much help. Originally we picked up just a regular primer... I gave the dresser 3 coats. Here is when I realized I should have sanded all of the grooves. By not sanding the grooves some of the original varnish was still there and primer does not stick to varnish. After going over and over the grooves and even getting the primer to stick in some places I took a trip back to Lowe's and got a primer designed to stick to anything including glossy surfaces. It was my saving grace! Not only did it stick to the glossy surfaces including the metal, but it was much thicker and gave much better coverage. 

All primed...

It is a good idea to sand between each coat of primer just to make sure that the surface stays smooth. I just used some sandpaper and did it by hand... it probably won't require an electric sander but if you choose to use one make sure you use a fine grit sandpaper. So after 5 coats of primer... three of the original and two of the amazing one I was ready to paint. By this point I was so over the dresser and could not wait to get it done. Painting was exciting for me because it meant the end was in sight. I used 3 coats of a semi-gloss white paint to cover the dresser and the drawers. After the paint was dry I applied two coats of a clear coat finish on the outer surface to protect the wood and give it that nice shiny look.
I decided that I wanted to line the inside of the drawers so I used scrapbook paper and mod-podge. I love the personal touch this gives the dresser and of course it adds a more girly look to it.

I also decided to hand paint knobs for the dresser. Originally I wanted to pick up these darling knobs that they had at World Market... but I needed 10 and at $5 each it would be a little pricey. Plus some of them were ceramic and who knows how long they would have lasted in B's room. So I went to home depot and picked up 1-1/2 in. wooden knobs for about a dollar each.

I thought that painting the knobs would be fairly simple... it wasn't but I am glad I did it because they look adorable. I primed the knob and then used the same paint I used to paint the dresser.... mistake. I should have just used regular acrylic paint from Joann's because it covers well and the colored acrylic paint for the designs will stick to it better. So after giving the knobs way too many layers of paint I was ready to paint on the designs. I had read that you could use graphite paper to transfer your designs from paper to the knob. I tried on one knob and then gave up. Because the knob is round it made it hard to transfer the design perfectly. I wish I would have tried harder at this because I am sure it would have worked but instead I just decided to paint the knobs freehand... which meant a few of the knobs were sanded and repainted until I liked them. For the stripes and the polka-dots I used painters tape. Of course the stripes were pretty simple and for the dots I just hole punched the tape, positioned it and painted the little hole. For the others I painted on birds, hearts, or flowers. It took me FOREVER to screw the knobs in... I should have gotten Brett to do this (By the way to only assistance he gave me on the dresser was drilling the new holes on the big drawers... I wanted it to be completely my project!)

After many hours, lots of mess, and my hard work here it is...

I LOVE it!!! I am so glad I did it because I think it was well worth it... not bad for a free dresser!