Ghetto Fabulous vintage dresser gets a facelift!

Hey people! So i spied this dresser on Craigslist (where else?) the other day and jumped on it. Solid wood, perfect height for changing table pad to sit on top, FREE... I couldn't pass it up. So I drove to the other side of town and snagged it. Now not only did the picture on craigslist NOT show that it was a lot bigger then I was expecting, but it didn't show the severe abuse that this poor dresser had sustained over the years. There were marks and dents covering the whole thing and actual CHEW MARKS on the bottom drawer from the lady's toddler. I hate to think about the medical bills from all the paint chips! Well I knew that I could make it work for our new little girl!

I loved the simple lines of this old boy and the wooden knobs (one of which had been knawed on...lol). So I got to work with the hand sander and smoothed out a lot of the wear. I toyed with the idea of leaving it SUPER shabby and just putting on a poly coat after I finished sanding but Heirloom White was calling my name. I didn't prime this because it was already white and also because I was out of primer...which is often the case. I spray painted this with 3 coats of Heirloom White making sure to let it dry fully in between. After it was fully painted I distressed it lightly and applied a little stain in the nooks and crannies to age it and make the damage look "almost" intentional. Then I poly coated it with Wipe On Poly and presto...

I love how this turned out...its the perfect height for a changing table too so that eliminates an extra piece of furniture from that tiny room. Not bad for free!