You just looked up Fetor didn’t you 🙂
Hi guys,
In my last post I described my challenges with How to get this stinky pig pen dresser sanitized, deodorized and primed just to get to the point where it could be painted with some nice paint. DEODORIZED YES we did!!! WHEW…that was something else..haha. Let’s recap the BEFORE pic shall we!?
The BEFORE pic without my artistic fumes
Sorry I kept you hanging though on my last post…. When you see the pictures of the drawer fronts you will understand why. There was still a lot more work on this furniture makeover. Even though my BEFORE picture does not reveal how bad the veneer was peeling up and lifting up, it started to break off as I touched it when I got it home. With how damp it had been, the veneer was in rough shape. I decided that I was going to try to take all of the veneer off by hand. OK….no can do on that one!! Check out these pictures after I tried to peel as much of the veneer off with a spackle knife. What a mess!
I did some research on how to remove the veneer with ease! Here is the source that I found via Decor Adventures. She said that with some elbow grease, using a hot iron over a wet rag did the trick for her. I decided to buy a cheap iron for this since I knew this was going to be a messy job and didn’t want to destroy my clothes iron. The weird thing was that when I used the iron it looked like there were 2 layers of veneer. One layer that was coming off and another plywood veneer that was warping underneath. I was biting my fingernails because I didn’t think that they usually used 2 layers for veneer. This raised a huge question for me; was this second warping layer actually veneer or was it the wood of the drawer front? If it was the core of the drawer front, I may be screwed! Ahh… I decided to keep ironing anyway!!
Yes it started to work! Both layers started to peel up and what was underneath was solid wood! WOHOO! I set the iron on the wet rag and let it sit for 2-3 minutes at times. Dang, still in some areas though, it seemed really tough to get that veneer off!!! Trying to muscle my way through this I knew this still could be easier…… and that is when I thought of my precious little tool that sits at the top of my closet. MY STEAMER! I knew that I could use the iron to get the initial veneer peel up and then I could use the steamer to steam the glue from underneath. This really started to make the job easier.
I used both tools (the iron and steamer) and combined, I was able to pick up speed. and Finally one drawer down!
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- Onto the second drawer
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- IRON, PRY, and STEAM…….repeat!!!
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- Finally veneer is coming up with ease
MEANWHILE…..Ed assisted with his woodworking clamps in his workshop to glue up the back of a broken drawer! The back of one of the drawers was cracked in half.
MEANWHILE
Finally the 2 layered veneer is off 3 of the drawers!! Keep going…..
veneers ready for the trash 🙂
Once the veneers were all off, I sanded down the drawer fronts with our orbital sander.
Ready for paint….please?
Of course you’re not ready for paint you stinky dresser you! 🙂 What are you thinking? In areas where I had to pry up the veneer with some force, the hard wood underneath got damaged in a few small areas. Even after sanding, some areas needed to be filled. This is where we decided to use BONDO!!
BONDO
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- Mixing bondo
NOTE: In the very beginning, Ed and I had debated whether to use Bondo on the whole surface of the drawer front to even out the broken veneer instead of removing the veneer. I have seen this done with this product before. However we decided against that and to remove the whole veneer. Since the BONDO sets up very fast and since we had 5 drawer fronts with veneer problems we thought it may have been just as much work as it would be to remove the veneer completely. So instead, we removed it and used the bondo for touch-ups. Ed helped me out here since he is much more familiar with the product.
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- Bondo gets applied to the small chunk missing
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- Bondo sanded
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- another spot that needs filling
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- Bondo applied and sanded
Bondo does create a super smooth finish when sanded!!! Definitely look into this product! For a painted finish it worked great!
Yes, we are ready to finally add some pretty paint to this dresser:
I used BENJAMIN MOORE ADVANCE.
This color was Linen white in Satin finish! I love this paint!!!
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- Benjamin Moore: Linen White in Satin finish
Ed used this paint on our wet-bar cabinets in our sun-room 5 years ago, and they still look amazing! We did not even put a top-coat on them. Benjamin Moore ADVANCE is thick and very durable and using our EARLEX sprayer, he really got a professional looking result. I usually clean them by just wiping them down. Even though ADVANCE is for cabinets, I have used it before on furniture and love the result. With kids, I decided that I wanted durability for this dresser not a chipping headache. 2 coats of paint with our sprayer did the trick!
AND HERE IT IS!!!! THE FINAL RESULT!!! I AM SO HAPPY IT’S DONE!!
I went searching online for the most perfect pull for this dresser. I was thinking possibly something Victorian looking or something similar to the pull that was originally on the dresser to begin with. However, I am so happy I didn’t do that. I needed to switch up the look to not be reminded of this dresser’s feral beginnings. Change is good!! 🙂 In the end, we ended up at Home Depot! My daughter saw these pulls and told me I must buy them for the dresser. I think she has a good eye….because…….
So…..the Before, and AFTER! ‘Fetching’? Tell me your thoughts in the comments, I would love to hear!
So, I know what your next question is going to be.
OK..OK, it doesn’t smell like flowers …..it smells like paint. Slight exaggeration:) However my flower embellishments were appropriate! I smell paint now and my brain registers an oh so pleasing scent compared to the ‘FETOR’ that was there when I started this project. HA!
Makeover is DONE!! Onto my next…..
K. Rupp
Linked up to these parties:
Thrift store addiction.: vintage charm party#100
Stacey Embracing Change.: creative inspirations #44
Imparting Grace.: Grace at home #266
A Glimpse Inside.: handmade hangout #171
This Autoimmune Life.: bloggers pit stop #91
The pin junkie.: Pin junkie pin party #232
Unique Junktique.: fridays furniture fix #97
UPDATE: This dresser was featured at the Friday’s Furniture Fix party HERE
Easy Peasy Pleasy.: funtastic friday party #144
UPDATE: This dresser was featured at the Funtastic Friday party HERE
A pretty Fix.: sweet inspiration party #74
Remodelaholic.: Friday Favorites
Dwellings Heart of your home.: Amaze me Monday #232
DIY showoff.: diy party #241
Stone Cottage Adventures.: Tues. with a twist #230
Across the Blvd.: brag about it party #38-17
Savvy Southern Style.: Wow us Wednesdays #354
Grandmas House DIY: wed link party #54
UPDATE: This dresser was featured at the DIY Wednesday link party HERE
AND YAY! It’s FEATURED HERE…find the buttons on my featured page!
Good grief???!!! You are the most dedicated, persistent person I know haha! I would have SO put that baby back on the curb! That is SO crazy about the veneer. I’m going to pin that link for sure. Great, great job!
HAHAHA!!!! Thanks so much! This one was a toughy:) Thanks for the compliment and your pin!!
This has come just at the right time. My wife has decide her winter project would be to refinish some old dressers that the veneer needs to come off.
Great job, the end result is amazing! That sprayer (and you, of course) did a really professional job.
Oh thank you so much Jaxx! Oh cool….tell her both the iron and the steamer worked well together. Once I got both going at the same time, I didn’t have to use as much force. Let me know if it works for her too:) Thanks so much for taking a look and commenting!
Wonderful job, lots of work but you came out with a beautiful new piece of usable and functional furniture.
Thank you so much! Yes we did! It’s my daughter’s dresser now and she loves it. Thanks for stopping by and your wonderful comment:)
Looks great! Thanks for sharing with us at #BloggersPitStop. I’ve pinned and shared on Facebook and tweeted.
Thank you so much for the complement and sharing on your networks!! I appreciate you stopping by:)
This turned out so pretty! I love the pulls she picked out! Can’t believe the amount of work that went into this though. YIKES
I know!! haha! I think I was in too deep by the time I realized it would be that much work. Then I was thinking, can this even be done? my little mystery kept me working on it. ha! Anyway, it made a couple fun posts to write:) Thanks so much Marita for commenting:) Can’t wait for you to see it!
This is seriously impressive. If it had been me I would have left it with half the old paint on and called it shabby chic! Haha! You went above and beyond. Love those handles too. A surprising choice that works very well.
Thank you so much! haha. Yes I get that now!!:) The handles I did like in the store but sort of passed by them. My daughter kept pulling me back….I think twice. ok alright…and then to my surprise, she and I loved it! Thanks so much for stopping in & for your lovely comment:)
That looks like a lot of work but the results are beautiful!
Thank you so much Roseann! Yes it was more work than expected!! My daughter loves it though so it was well worth it:) Thank you for stopping by!
Great job. The finished piece is lovely. I have stripped veneer with the iron method and it is a pain in the neck. The dresser I worked on was from the 1930’s and the wood had a shellac finish so when you applied the heat, you got fumes-what a mess!
ugh…yes I believe it! And of course you had a fume complication… These old pieces seem to always have an issue we aren’t ready for right? 🙂 Yeah I agree, the iron will work alone but it was tough for me! For future projects I will only do it with both tools now. It definitely sped up the process. Thank you for stopping by, taking the time to comment and sharing your experience. I will remember that when I come across something from that time era with shellac. Out comes my handy vapor-mask ha!
What a gorgeous transformation, Kathleen! Seriously, you did an amazing job bringing that piece back to life. And those drawer pulls are the crowning touch! There are a lot of great tips that I’ll be referring back to in this post for some of the projects I have planned in my own home. Thank you!
Oh Thank you so much Jelica! I am so happy how it turned out. Through the whole process it was definitely a learning experience. I’m glad others can learn from it too:) Thanks so much for your lovely compliment.
Wonderful tutorial Kathleen! For sure pinning this for my followers, great tips and it turned out just gorgeous. Looks like it just came off the showroom floor. Thanks for sharing your project at #fridaysfurniturefix
Oh thank you so much! What a nice compliment! I was actually surprised how nice it did come out in the end since every step of the way was difficult. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing!
Kathleen, this is what I call a what-was-I-thinking project! Even though you hit some bumps along the way, the transformation is gorgeous! Great tip on removing the veneer too. Thanks for sharing @ Vintage Charm. Pinned & tweeted!
Thank you so much Cecilia….yes!!! That is exactly what I would call this project! haha! Thanks for the compliment and sharing on your networks:)
Kathleen, this is such a beautiful transformation, really great job! Well done! Love it! xoxo
Vesna – Home Chic Club
Thank you so much Vesna!! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look:)
What an amazing transformation! It looks like you spent lots of time and hard work, bug well worth it!
Thanks so much! Yes I finally feel that now in the end:)
It is a whole different dresser! It was a lot of work but it turned out gorgeous!!! I loved the acrylic handles… excellent work!!!!
http://www.artdecorationcrafting.gr
Oh thank you so much!!! yes the handles really are the jewelry! Thanks for your compliment!
Love this! Thanks for sharing with us at the To Grandma’s house we go link party – I’ll be featuring you tomorrow morning when the new party starts!
Oh awesome! Thank you so much Tarah! I really appreciate the feature!
What an amazing transformation!!…Certainly a true labor of love…and those pulls are beautiful…your daughter did good!
Thank you so much! She did didn’t she? It caught her eye before mine. And easy…Home Depot! All my internet searching was not needed:) Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Impressive work girl! Now that is some skill and patience tested with this one! Beautiful end result, bravo to you! Oh and glad it smells like paint haha
Thanks so much Ashly!! Yes…..patience was a must with this one!!! Oh me too…. It probably would be back in the dumpster if it still stunk! haha. Thanks for checking it out and commenting!
What an amazing job!!
Thanks so much for stopping by!!
HUgs.
Debbie
Thanks so much for your nice words!!!! 🙂