My Craft Room

I've heard horror stories about moving damages, so guess we were pretty lucky. The biggest thing to get broken was this dresser. They completely snapped all the back legs off.

We weren't too upset. It was an inexpensive dresser that we purchased for Kaitlyn's room more than 8 years ago (ack! still can't believe my baby is EIGHT). With the new built-ins in the closets, we didn't need it in Kaitlyn's room anymore. But with a little TLC, I knew it would be useful SOMEWHERE. So the dresser has been sitting in my craft room, mostly unused, since it wasn't totally stable without the back legs.

10 months after the move, we finally got around to refinishing it! It was part of our big project day right before my birthday (last month) and I've been excited to show it to you. But let me show you what else we worked on that day before I show you the reveal.

They were replacing all the tables in Sam's classroom at the base and were giving away all the old tables. These things had been beat up, what with being used to clean guns on, etc. And they were pretty utilitarian looking to begin with. But really - free tables? Can't pass that one up. And they had to be an improvement over the teeny tiny table I had been using in the craft room.

Metal base, wood top -pretty basic. We forgot to get a Before photo, but here is the first table after Sam got done sanding down the top. As it turns out, when we were restaining the tops we ran out of stain after the first one. The new stain on the second table didn't quite match the stain on the first. So Sam brought home a 3rd table top and sanded that one down too. We did remember to get a photo of that one.

Here is a close up - ick, right?!

Alright, enough with the Befores. Are you ready for the big reveal?

Tada! Here is the dresser after a coat of black spray paint and some new handles.

Sam cut off the rest of the legs and replaced them all with a solid base so now the dresser looks more like a piece of cabinetry.

The black looks really pretty against the red and white on the walls and the wood on the floor. (I have to say though - you have to dust black furniture WAY more often than any other kind!)

There! Now my printer and my Silhouette have a nice new home!

And those tables? Well they look pretty good too!

As it turns out, once they were sanded down the wooden tops had an almost butcher block type look. After a nice dark coat of stain and some spray poly (first time using the spray - love the smooth finish from the spray. I don't think we'll go back to the kind you have to apply with a brush) the wood looks gorgeous! And of course we hit the bases with a coat of black spray paint too.
Total cost: under $50 for paint, stain, poly, and new handles. $50 for all three pieces!

I think I can get a lot of crafting done in this space, don't you?