*If you are visiting Vintage Revivals for the first time today WELCOME! Right now I am in the middle of a bedroom overhaul and there is LOTS of great stuff coming up that I KNOW you wont want to miss, so make sure you subscribe! Pick your poison to the right ——–> all are updated frequently! And I hope you will make yourself at home! We are like one big fat spray paintin’, thrift shoppin’ , color lovin’, doing things on the cheap, and feeding our kids cereal 4 nights a week, DIY family of AWESOMENESS in this corner of the net.
UPDATE: Today’s Nate segment is LIVE! Check it out here!
Ok now on to the DIY fun. This is one of my FAVORITE projects to date. Seriously I am in LOVE.
Thank you everyone for all of your amazing suggestions, you guys are genius’! The plan that I had for this mid century modern piece changed when I remembered this KILLER rug that I scored at Ross for $20 a few months ago (if you see something amazing BUY IT even if you don’t have anywhere for it at the moment, you never know when you will wish you had it!) My SIL had it at her house and I totally had forgotten about it. Its like finding money in your pocket, except its one of a kind, perfect money that is super colorful and did I mention PERFECT!?! Love it when that happens!
Because the rug is so bright and the pattern is crazy bold, a color on the dresser was just not going to happen.
Imagine my happiness when I stripped off the green paint and saw real wood underneath! I was so so excited about it.
If you are stripping stuff I totally recommend using Citristrip. It works great and doesn’t eat your flesh if you get some on it, so that’s a bonus…you know if you like your flesh.
There are a few methods to using Paint Stripper. The way that I use it, is to put a layer down and then cover it with plastic so it doesn’t dry out too fast.
After about 10 minutes I take it off and let the stripper turn from orange to white. When it is white then its ready to come off.
You can use a stripping tool or a putty knife to scrape the paint off. Once you have as much stripped as you can use a stripping pad (or old washcloth) doused in Paint Thinner to get the residue from the Citristrip and remaining spots of paint off.
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I painted the drawer fronts with Krylon White Gloss. I didn’t prime it because I wanted a really high gloss finish (If you use Kilz to prime it makes your piece have more of a satin finish FYI)
Then I put the hardware on.
A little trick when you are placing your hardware that has more than one hole is to line it up and press it firmly into the piece. It leaves a little mark so you know where to drill!
I thrifted an old dresser for $10.00 that was pretty beat up. In fact it hasn’t ever made it into the garage so its forever ruined. These knobs are the reason that I bought the ugly old thing, because they are AMAZING! (Don’t you agree?!)
And now just look how pretty it is.
Can you even believe this is the same piece?
And the best part is that this was such an easy DIY and a great way to add some modern flare to Dylan’s room. If you have an afternoon you can TOTALLY do this project!!
You can see all of the posts in this series here.
Here are the tutorials for the Faux Bois Lampshade and Faux Taxidermy Rhino.
And the last bit of business today. THANK YOU to who ever nominated me for The Homies over at Apartment Therapy! I have been nominated in the Best DIY Blog category (its new this year…I like to think that I inspired it…hahaha) So if you feel so inclined I would love a vote! Sort of like a virtual slap on the butt for all my hard work. Thanks guys, you rock my world!
Love Your Guts, Mandi
As much as I loved the old green, the redone piece looks fabulous– like straight out of a catalogue gorgeous. Nice job, as always 😀
Love the nightstand. Uber mod. I slapped your butt….btw 😉
I absolutely love the dresser AND the rug. Mixing natural wood with paint is one of my favorite finishes lately, and I love the orange-y red color palette. Basically, I’m in love haha.
wow, that is AMAZING!! I love the handles too, where did you get the from? I love her room so far!! Great job, you are so inspiring
I love a good score. I like the dresser before…what a beautiful color, but I can totally see how it wouldn’t work.
Great makeover (or make under?) I love seeing the natural wood paired with white drawers. Definitely the perfect choice for the room, esp. with that gorgeous rug.
When you said you were going to redo this room I thought you were crazy, it was so cute. But WOW! I love it, perfect for a growing girl. That rug is awesome.
On my I absolutely love Dylan’s room! YOu did a great job! But I have to admit I almost cried when I went to buy the fois bois pattern and it was GONE! The shade and rhino head is great! Keep up the good work!
Love the dresser, and crazy love the rhino!
the nightstand looks fab, but more importantly i love where the room is going!
Amazing.
Champagne Lifestyle on a Beer Budget
I LOVE how it turned out! You’re totally right, a bold color on that puppy would not have worked. THAT RUG IS AWESOME! And Roy lives on! YES!
it looks really good – great job :o)
Just in case you’re interested, that piece was designed by Russel Wright for the Conant Ball company. It was produced in maple and blond finishes, without drawer pulls. There are finger grooves at the bottom of each drawer front for pulling them open. I have several of these pieces and love them to death. Supposedly this collection was Macy’s all-time best selling furniture.
I love the new design but I am dying to know what base color and aging technique you used for the original green dresser. I need to repaint my kitchen chairs and yours would be a perfect green. Thanks
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OH NO! I forgot to set my DVR for today! 🙁 🙁 I used to record Nate every single day, but then I just couldn’t keep up since I work FT. Sadz.
I LOVE it! You did such a great job!
It looks so good!!! And that rug is killer. I can’t believe you got it for 20 bucks- my crappy bath mat cost more that that!! Saw you on Nate this morning- you and your projects were awesome!
Okay, snuck and watched it here. You nailed it! Good job, Mandi’s guts! xo
Hate to be a downer, but I thought the room was so much cuter before. It is on the boring side now. The bed was a fab find though. Still love you even if I’m not a fan of the room 😉
I was bored and turned on the Nate Berkus show today and YOU WERE ON! You did so great and looked so cute too. That must have been an amazing experience! Congrats. 🙂 PS> I always love the projects you do. Keep the awesome ideas coming!
Great job on the Nate Show today! I love love love your ideas and I’m excited to follow your blog! Many happy returns!!
Thought I liked the green but this is 100% better…. LOVE it!
Sorry, I’m so dazzled by the amazing lampshade to notice the side table. Seriously. Amazing. I don’t have a Silhouette so it looks like this project will be in my brain 4-eva until I figure out how to do it sans Silhouette!
I saw you on Nate today and it was fabulous. I was out and about running errands and I rushed home to catch your segment. I’m so glad I did since you came on first. Great job, Girl!
Smiles,
Lesli @ BeautifullyCoastal.com
I love it! Way different than I expected, but you’re right.. you needed something less bright and it looks perfect!
I just found you after seeing you on Nate and I am so glad! You have a great site here and wonderful projects that promote sustainable design, instead of consumerism. Love this dresser makeover.
I’m a new follower!
Crap I love it! So when I saw you on Nate’s show, I thought,”Hey I know her!!!” Reality though is we’ve never met, but I feel like I know you because of your blog. Keep it! Luv your Guts!
Dear Mandy, if you are planning on taking Nate’s advice and training people as you start up your own design co, I would volunteer for the training….just sayin! Great job on the show and Dylan’s room looks great so far! I did love the green room, so if you are looking to donate that to a good cause, we’re totally into hand me downs!
The dresser looks FAB!!! And – wow – congrats on an amazing Nate segment!!!
I LOVE it! I really want a dresser like this for my bedroom. Great Job 🙂
The funny thing is that this look–white fronts with wood along the body, looks exactly like the thrift store dresser I scored for my sons bedroom for only $16! Lol. I was going to jazz it up and then realized it looked just fine. Your post confirms my decorating decision. Good job, Mandy!
I like what you did with the dresser, and especially the lamp – really awesome. Is this room something that you worked on with your daughter? The rhino head is interesting…but I think it would have given me nightmares as a little kid. Seems an odd choice for a little girl.
Wow! What an amazing makeover! Love the new look, and the hardware is just gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.
I just watched your segment on Nate’s show. He is right, you have an incredible eye for design! What you did to transform your friend’s rooms was nothing short of visionary! It is a rare quality to see the vision for inexpensive, thrift, and low cost items the way you do. I think Nate is right, you could create a great, cottage industry that would help train and employ others. Consider expanding, Mandy, you have what it takes to really make a difference.
Shirley said:
Love, Love your blog. You looked so cute on the Nate show. This dresser is amazing. I hope I run accross a deal some time soon.
I’m so happy for you! You must have been on cloud 9 when Nate said what he did! What a great day, best of luck to you! Wish I lived close, I would paint your rugs for you :)!
Wow, just wow. I can’t believe the transformation of that dresser! It looks so amazing! I love it. It’s so mid-century modern. I had a self defense class Monday night and I missed Nate! I’m so annoyed! I hope you are able to get that other segment because I really want to see it!
Hubby is home this weekend and I plan on showing him your side table.
He found a desk at a local thrift shop that he’s considering purchasing. I want him to paint it and change the hardware. He doesn’t want to paint it. Ugh!
It’s a gorgeous piece.
You rocked it out girl! Chic and modern 🙂
Really wish I had used Citistrip for a desk I am re-doing. It seems to be a better item for peeling off old paint. That dresser is super cool now! The knobs on it…it’s perfection!
I love that you bought a dresser for the knobs. That is awesome!
Inspiring and informative! This is why I love vintagerevivals. So question – do you recommend the same process for stripping paint off furniture that has carved details? I’m thinking a scraper-knifey deal would ding up the wooden/carved detailing on my sideboard, but I so want to reveal it’s hidden wooden glory! Advice?