Craigslist-How would you go about refurbishing this dresser

[meemz]

I have not bought this yet. The owner confirmed it was still for sale. He is asking 150.00 OBO. What would you offer and would you stain this darker?  Paint it a different color? Change the pulls? My bedroom is grey with pops of yellow. I have a three drawer chest and two nightstands that are a dark wood. The three drawer chest will probably end up in the closet for more clothes storage. Thanks for your help. Attachment Deleted   

[msmerymac]

I would change the pulls to something a bit more contemporary. Your color scheme is a bit trendy (in a good way, I like it), so something updated would look good. I would probably lean towards painting rather than staining IF the dark wood of your other furniture matches. If it's all slightly different, then I would stain it dark. If it's the same, I might paint this white. Do you have a bedframe/headboard and if so what color?

[auntie]

JMHO. I don't think paint is going to improve the piece substantially. I could see staining it a deep ebony and leaving the hardware alone to create something "transitional". That particular style of furniture is more "authentic" in cherry or mahogany; I have no idea why they translated it into oak. It's like a compromise between a wife who wanted traditional and a DH who wanted manly oak graining. It does look like it's well made.

It's not a contemporary piece, and I don't think shiny popping turquoise paint or funky hardware can change that. If that's your vibe, perhaps you'd do better to find something closer to what is.

[meemz]

Thanks for your thoughts.My other furniture is a set so they all match. I have to replace my headboard because it was damaged during a move. That is next on my list. I need a larger dresser badly. I was thinking maybe a fabric headboard in a neutral color as I like to change my bedding. It could be an easy diy project. I am pretty much at square one right now.

[meemz]

I agree the oak is nms at all but they are claiming it to be solid wood. I was leaning towards staining it a dark wood color and changing the pulls. Then maybe lining the drawers with a cool wallpaper design.

[Ramz-ee]

I tend to disagree with some of the other posters. It's amazing what a dark colored stain and some new pulls will do to a piece. I would also remove the locks and fill in the holes, if you can.

You could also paint the piece to coordinate with the fabric for the headboard.

[peach]

Staining it is going to be a huge job. I do furniture for a side job and I would not bother stripping and staining it - it's not a piece that would be worth it.

It would look great painted with some new hardware though!

[pitterwoo]

If you stain it, use something like Polyshades or Gel stain that sits on top of the existing finish and doesn't require stripping. No way would I be up for a full refinishing job on that.

If you decide to paint, you can apply grain filler first so that no oak grain shows through.

[sierramist03]

I'd do something like this

[meemz]

Jan 4, 2014 19:48:08 GMT -5 sierramist03 said:

I'd do something like this

Ugh. I wish I could find something like that but they are selling .300 and up right now in my area. I might as well buy it at the store for that price.. Maybe I will keep looking. I dont want that oak look to seep through the paint. Thanks ladies.

[sierramist03]

Jan 4, 2014 21:35:15 GMT -5 meemz said:

Jan 4, 2014 19:48:08 GMT -5 sierramist03 said:

I'd do something like this

Ugh. I wish I could find something like that but they are selling .300 and up right now in my area. I might as well buy it at the store for that price.. Maybe I will keep looking. I dont want that oak look to seep through the paint. Thanks ladies.

I painted an oak daybed white and use zinsser cover stain and bm paint and you can't see the oak at all

[auntie]

Jan 4, 2014 21:35:15 GMT -5 meemz said:

Jan 4, 2014 19:48:08 GMT -5 sierramist03 said:

I'd do something like this

Ugh. I wish I could find something like that but they are selling .300 and up right now in my area. I might as well buy it at the store for that price.. Maybe I will keep looking. I dont want that oak look to seep through the paint. Thanks ladies.

Oak. The polished brass of the forest.

Oak isn't going to seep through. It has a pretty pronounced grain. If you lightly sand and prime over a reasonably thick existing varnish finish, you probably won't see the grain. If you sand it down to the bare wood and apply a sanding sealer with filler before priming you will not see the grain.

This looks like decent quality furniture, and I wonder if you'd regret painting it at some later date. These things are kind of cyclical. My great-grandparents had a beautiful waterfall bedroom set that one of my father's cousin's inherited and painted apple green in the hippy dippy 1960's, their DD spent a year restoring it back to its original state cursing all the while. This same couple painted a Victorian pedestal table and a set of Stickley Morris chairs which also got stripped down the line. The oak pedestal table was given to one of the cousins who repainted it and paired it with mismatched chairs a la Friends. 

My mother inherited a limed oak MCM bedroom set and used an antique kit to make it more on trend in the early 1970's. She's lived to regret it. She had a house full of MCM stuff when I was little, jettisoned it for transitional, then Queen Anne and back to a more eclectic look in her MD house. She doing her FL digs in MCMs she finds at various yard and estate sales.

I'm not a fan of the partially painted furniture look; it gives me flasshbacks to the lil' bit country era when everyone had the wallpaper border of the sartorially challenged muffler draped geese.