Beach Bureau

I had grand plans for this one.

BUT soon I discovered this piece had already been painted seven times. Many layers of paint not only on the outer surfaces but everywhere on the inside frame and on the drawers' outer sides rendered them unusable as they were impossible to open and shut. I quickly realized this piece would not be a candidate for my grand plans. Instead I stripped the top just enough to reveal a bit of the old paint layers so that when it was distressed, some of its history would peek through. Embracing its past, as pathetic as it was, I turned it into a weathered beachy dresser.

We're keeping this one. I bought it for $20 on craigslist. That price certainly enticed me and helped me look beyond the terribly sticky drawers. The paint used was "oops" paint from Lowes that I turned into homemade chalk paint. This piece will take the place of another dresser in our home. I'll share that one tomorrow as it will soon make its way to my etsy shop!

Process 1. Peeled away layers of paint from the drawer edges with a hand held wood planer. 2. Painted it a nice shade of a cloudy day on the beach. I mixed homemade chalk paint with Valspar Paint + Primer. Sorry, no name available... I got this paint from the "Oops" shelves at Lowes and it didn't have a paint number on it.

Here are my tips for fixing sticky old drawers. Try them in order: 1. Clean the bottom drawer edges and inside of the dresser with a wood cleaner. 2. Rub those parts with a bar of soap or paraffin wax. 3. If they still stick, use a hand held wood planer to "peel" off thin layers of wood and paint from the bottom and sides of the drawer. Sand to smooth down the surfaces. With that tool, you are actually reducing the size of the drawer so that it smoothly glides into the dresser frame. I got my wood planer for about $10 at Home Depot and it works well.

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