The Ultimate Furniture Makeover – Waterfall Vanity and Dresser

I purchased two waterfall pieces of furniture on facebook from a couple I know.  At first, I thought I would clean both up and put them in one of our bedrooms, but then I decided to get creative.  The furniture was a little bit more beat up than I thought originally.  We had recently upgraded my youngest daughter to a twin bed, from her toddler bed, and she really needed some new furniture in her room  She had a hand me down tall dresser (that was not pretty) and a changing table.  The changing table had a big drawer, a cabinet, and a shelf at the bottom.  It was a pretty nice piece, it just didn’t match her new bed, and neither did the tall dresser.  So, I made the decision that the waterfall vanity and dresser would go to her room.  She looked at some pictures with me of furniture that had been redone. It was fun looking at other ideas that were out there. She really wanted her furniture to be pink, but I was thinking towards restaining the furniture and putting a good glossy coat to make it look shiny and new. So, here is what I ended up doing, with some help from my 5-year-old.  I love that she’s at the age that she wants to help me!

Waterfall Dresser

Waterfall Vanity (the mirror is not pictured)

1. I started with sanding everything down with an electric sander.  I took the furniture outside because we do not have a garage or any other building to do this in.  I believe I worked on this project for a month total!  I really only had time to work on it on the weekends.
2. I put a tarp down in our front living room to set up my working space for staining and painting.  We don’t really use that room much unless we have company.
3. I cleaned the furniture with wood cleaner, Murphy’s wood cleaner.
4. I sanded everything as evenly as possible with my electric sander.  I did some parts by hand.  Then I cleaned the furniture again, with help from my youngest daughter.
5. I started out with just a cheap sponge on a stick to do my staining, later I upgraded to a quality stain bristle brush (the softest brush I could find).  Both worked well for this project.  With the more expensive brush, I noticed a more even coat (fewer bubbles), and I felt I needed fewer coats with the brush.  I just used small craft paint brushes for the smaller ridges. 
6. I ended up doing each piece a little bit differently.  On the dresser, I painted the top with the chalkboard paint (no primer), I used two coats of paint.  I also used two coats on the edges of the dresser.   For the dresser stain, I used the Rust-Oleum American Walnut Stain+Polyuerethane.  I did three coats on the drawers and 2 coats on the rest of the wood.  I then put two coats of the Minwax Polyurethane clear semi-gloss on the stain and the chalkboard paint.  I wanted the furniture to shine.  I originally wanted a more glossy shine and thought I should have bought a high-gloss, but I still really love how it turned out.
7. On the vanity I used the white primer on all of the side panels, then painted each panel with the pink chalkboard paint. I started staining with the American Walnut but ran out.  They did not have any more at the store, so I bought the Special Walnut, and it was a pretty good match.  I did a couple of coats of the stain, then did two coats of the polyurethane. I did not put the polyurethane on the pink side panels, I left those so my daughter could use chalk on them.
8. I spray painted the hardware with the silver Rusto-Oleum spray paint.  I did 2 coats of each.  Letting the paint dry between each coat.

I hope this tutorial helps you with your next project!  I don’t do furniture makeovers often, but these turned out so great, I wanted to share.

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Have you done a furniture makeover?  How did it go?  Are you thinking of doing one?  If you have any questions, leave a comment or contact me, I would be glad to try to help.

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