Project...chunk of wood

I am a sucker for a project, apparently. For some reason I find a certain satisfaction out of turning something old and battered into something new and exciting. Perhaps its the uniqueness. Or the fact that my taste is expensive but my wallet is not thick so I try to attempt at mixing the two together. Or maybe its just the simple fact that I really like to envision the possibility of something and watch it take form by my own hand.

Yep. I think that last one must be it. Otherwise I would've lit a match to this project long ago or tried to re-sell it if I didn't care so much about seeing a project through.

Who would've thought re-painting a silly old dresser would be so much work?

Not me. Obviously.

The first complication was trying to pry the stupid handles off the thing. I thought I would be able to keep them intact and spray paint them to attach later...but, they would not come off without being ruined. Totally ruined. And, I ended up giving myself a black-eye in the process. Literally. I guess my face was too close to the hammer and as one of the handles popped off the hammer smashed into my cheek bone. Awesome...

Sigh. I should've lit a match to it then...

Because next I realized that the intended minor fix to sticky drawers was not so minor after all. In fact, the more I opened the drawers the worse they got. I wracked my brain to try to come up with any possibility not to replace the drawers...in the end, I had to replace the drawer slides.

I hauled the dresser to my parents house where my dad helped me attach the new slides. I had to go with center slides (like the original ones already on there) which I wasn't thrilled with because they're not as smooth, sturdy or long lasting...but there just wasn't a way to do side slides without spending a bunch of money (that the dresser was not worth) and spending way too much time doing it. So I opted for the simple and inexpensive and because my dad is a genius and has all the necessary tools...we got the job accomplished. It took us far too long for a "simple" fix (I can only imagine how annoying side slides would've been to attach!)...I swear this dresser had it out for me--it just wanted to ruin my vision and steal my excitement...

Dang dresser.

Once back home I finally got to the step that I had thought I would have started with. Painting! A coat of primer. A coat of paint. And then the fun....

I wanted the dresser to have a sort of vintage look, yet fun and different...but I just couldn't quite settle on a look for it. My friend Teri was at my house one day and I asked her opinion (she has amazing decorating taste and I knew she'd have a good suggestion.) She suggested one of my favorite words: Lace. Heck yeah, genius. Thanks Teri! And after a bit of research online I found a dresser that I wanted V's to look like. There's so many tutorial's on different techniques...hodge-podging lace onto a dresser, painting...I chose the easiest...

Spray Paint.

Did I mention how much I love spray paint? Well I do. It's great. Simply fabulous. And did I mention easy?

Yes! One thing that was easy. Thanks God! All I did was buy a piece of lace, tape it tight to the drawer and spray paint lightly over it. Let it dry for several minutes, peel it off and re-use the same piece for the next drawer. Effective. Easy. Done! Finished with some cheap vintage-style hardware from ebay (spray painted a matte black) and you have this!

I'm really wishing I had taken a 'before' picture right about now. The above would be a lot more impressive.

Oh well.

I couldn't be happier with it. It's perfect for a little girls room. So despite that it was a much bigger project than I had thought, and despite how annoyed I got with it...the result turned out to be one of my absolute favorites!