A Dresser Named "Evie"

The pieces I work on come from an assortment of random sources - friends who offload their unwanted's, thrift shops, side-of-the-road turnarounds, etc. One day last week, a gentleman called the shop and wanted to know if we would take a dresser off of his hands. His wife had begun fixing it up with every intention of finishing it, but she hit a dead end. After seeing it, I happily said "yes" and it was hauled up the steps for a makeover.

The dresser had definitely seen better days. Between cracks in the drawers and a harlequin paint job, it was looking pretty sad. I had two plans in mind for it. One involved sanding down the drawer fronts to see what was underneath. If they were relatively awesome, I was going to try hand-painting a design. If not, I would decoupage.

After an hour of sanding outside, it was pretty obvious that decoupage would be the way to go. I had seen a post on Miss Mustard Seed's blog from her early days where she used old sheet music to decoupage the front of a dresser. Hers turned out so beautifully that I wanted to mimic the look.

Photo Source: Miss Mustard Seed

I even had an old hymn book that I bought from a local antique store and I had used it on a few projects previous to this. After pulling it off the bookshelf at home, I set about covering up the sad looking drawer fronts.

You can watch a video of the process on my Facebook page if you like!

The one part of the dresser that was NOT in bad shape was the top. It was a solid chunk of wood that looked amazing sanded down. I used General Finishes' Java Gel Stain to give it a new look and sealed it with their High Performance Water Based Top Coat in Satin.

The reason why it was sandwiched open in the photo was because I couldn't get the back screws undone. So, I did the next best thing - propped it up so I could stain it without ruining my paint job.

Speaking of paint, the body got a few coats of Old White Chalk Paint ®. I lightly distressed the edges with some sandpaper.

A Hobby Lobby just opened up in my neck of the woods (happy dance) and I picked up new hardware for the drawers.

Here is the final piece all put together:

I'm absolutely thrilled with how it turned out.

The contrast between the dark top and light body is really stunning.

At Love Street, we name each of our pieces. As I considered what to name this piece, my thoughts drifted to a very dear woman at my church. We met at the Tuesday night Precept Inductive Bible Studies I attend (and now teach). She was my prayer partner and we kept in touch ever since. She also worked in the church office and had a smile on her face every time I saw her.

Her name was Evie, and she went home to be with the Lord this year. Evie had cancer and didn't tell many people. When I heard of her passing, I had mixed emotions. I was so happy to know that her suffering was over but the void she left behind is still felt.

Evie was a light to those around her.