Here is a before of this poor thing...
As you can see, it needed love....BAD. I had been eyeballing a few mirrored pieces for awhile but have you seen the prices on mirrored dressers?? Yowzers. um...no thanks, I'll save the $500-$700 for something else. Being that it was my first DIY project I needed some guidance on painting furniture, which I got at www.centsationalgirl.com. Seriously, Kate is so creative and inspiring. My first step was to remove the hardware and strip her down, which was kind of a pain but no pain no gain right? (at least I keep telling myself that.) I prefer Citristrip Paint and Varnish Stripping Gel, it's non-toxic, the fumes are minimal and it has a pleasant orange smell.
After that I filled the hardware holes with Elmers wood filler and let it sit for about 20 min. Then I got out my Black and Decker Mouse power sander (my very first power tool, hee hee) and using meduim grit discs I sanded, and sanded.....and sanded. Did I mention I sanded? :) It needs to be sanded until it is as smooth as a baby's bottom, which took roughly one year (do I need to say i'm kidding?) but you get the picture.
Let the Priming/Painting begin:
Let me fill you in...I LOVE SPRAYPAINT. It is just plain nuts what a little can of spraypaint can do. To this day 90% of my paint projects are done with spraypaint. I primed it first with my A-#1 go to primer, Zinsser's oil based Cover Stain. This is seriously awesome stuff, covers just about anything, dries fast and is my very favorite.**PLEASE use a mask, this stuff along with all spraypaint is potent and very dangerous to inhale. Once everything was primed. I sanded again with a meduim grit sanding sponge by hand to get it smooth again. Now it's time to paint! Never under estimate the power of a good brush and some paint conditioner. I use Purdy brushes and always add some Floetrol paint conditioner (not to be confused with thinner!) I painted this with Benjamin Moore's Advanced water based White Dove Satin finish paint. I painted everything but the top and sides with a brush and used a roller on those. I painted 2 coats leaving it sit about 6 hrs in between coats and then let it sit a couple of days to cure. When I returned back I brushed on Minwax Poly to seal in all my hard work!
My next step was to get that mirror on there that I wanted so badly. I sought out places to cut mirrors which I found not far from home and only cost me $20! I just brought him the mirrors (I bought 2 cheap $5 back of door mirror's from walmart) and gave him the sizes. I also brought him one of my knobs to have him drill my hardware holes into the mirrors...(this was included in the $20 price..woohoo!) When I got them home I used Gorilla glue to glue them to the drawers (This was a mistake I will shortly explain) and then added the hardware and VOILA!! My mirrored dresser was finished and at a measley $72...take that Pottery barn! Here are the before and afters......
Before:
After:
I Luuuurve her. So pretty, but now for the epic fail part I slipped in there.
The nice gentleman that cut my mirror suggested that I use a bit thicker mirror and liguid nails mirror glue so that I didnt risk the mirros cracking....well WHAT DOES HE KNOW, HE'S ONLY A PROFESSIONAL! yup.....I opted for the cheaper route and ALL but one of my mirros cracked within a couple of months. :( WAH! So, If you choose to mirror a piece, use thicker mirror than you think you should and use Liquid Nails Mirror Glue so that all of your hard work doesnt go to waste. For now, I will most likely remove the mirrors and replace them with something else or who knows, maybe a whole new project....... :)
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