Painting a Wood Dresser or Buffet {Furniture Refab}

So I got this beauty for $25 at an estate sale that I found on Craigslist! The day I purchased this was probably my most successful thrifting experience of all time. For $110 I got 6 dining chairs, two beautiful mirrors and two long, solid dressers. I bought this one for $25 and the guy was so eager to rid himself of the other one that he threw in the second identical one for $15! I gave it to a friend, but am actually kicking myself for not keeping it. You can see from this before photo that it was old, ugly and outdated. Nothing a little paint and some new (or even "refreshed") hardware can't fix....

This piece was actually in such great shape (no dings or scratches at all!) that I didn't even have to sand it down before priming. First I removed all the hardware and hinges and then I used Rustoleum's Painters Touch White Primer to prime the whole thing, inside and out.

Next I painted the sides of the drawers and insides of the cabinet doors and the faces of the cabinet drawers with Rustoleum Summer Squash yellow, giving the insides a sunny feel and a nice surprise when opened. It took about 3 coats of spray to get the right amount of coverage. Next I used Rustoleaum's High Performance Gloss White all over the outside of the dresser, again with about 3-4 coats of coverage. However, if I had it to do all over again, I would have used Rustoleum's Painter's Touch Gloss White, mostly because the spray tip is more ergonomically comfortable on the finger to use. Next, to seal the deal (and the nasty spray paint fumes) , the entire dresser, inside and out, got a coat of my favorite eco-friendly lacquer: Safecoat Acrylaq.

To refresh the old, brassy hardware, I sprayed my favorite Oil-Rubbed Bronze, (ORB) which I had left over from my Family Room built-in project.

Next for the bottoms of the drawers, I used scrapbook paper in shades and patterns of white, cream, beige and yellow and decoupaged the bottom of each drawer with a decoupage paste that I picked up from Michaels. Each drawer was customized with its own unique pattern-- So fun and my favorite part of the final product. I followed that up with a coat of Safecoat Acqrylaq and Voila:

For now, this piece has found a home in my dining room as a buffet, but I just picked up another piece (found on Craiglist or course!) that I will refab for use as a buffet and this beauty will take up residence in my bedroom and rediscover its identity as a dresser.