nnK’s dresser.

Published on by Quandie

As I was gearing up for my Carriage House sale back in June, my neighbor nnK asked if she could put a dresser in the sale.

So I took a look at it, asked how much she wanted for it, and then bought it myself.

It’s rather plain, but was in great shape.  I thought it would be the perfect canvas for the I.O.D. Joie des Roses transfer.

It’s only taken me nearly all summer, but I finally got ‘er done.

I started by stripping the top of the dresser.  It had a thick, shiny poly finish that didn’t appeal to me so I wanted to take it back to the bare wood and go from there.

While that was underway, I discovered that two of the drawers were missing their runners.  So my neighbor/handyman Ken made a couple of new ones.

Next I gave the rest of the dresser two coats of Dixie Belle’s Putty.

Now it was time to apply the transfer.  I have to admit, I procrastinated a bit on that step.  I was kind of worried that I would mess it up.  The transfer cost me around $40, so I really didn’t want to get it wrong.  I’d seen a few online reviews where people had some issues getting the 8 sheets of the design lined up properly.

In addition, the overall height of the design was about 4″ too tall for my dresser.

But in the end I decided to just go for it.  If I totally shanked it, sure, I’d be out $40, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

I started at the top center of the dresser and worked out from there.  After applying the upper half (or 4 sheets across), I realized that if I just lined up the bottom 4 sheets then the oval medallion at the bottom would get cut off somewhere in the middle.  That would look odd.

So I decided to trim off the upper part of the lower 4 sheets.

The blue line above shows approximately where I trimmed each sheet.  I left enough so that I could slightly overlap the top of each sheet with the sheets that were already applied.

The beauty of this plan is that I didn’t really have to worry about lining up the tops of the last 4 sheets with the bottoms of the top 4 sheets.  I just let them overlap.

I then used the bits that I had cut away to fill in a couple of spots that ended up looking a bit wonky.

It couldn’t have been easier.  In fact, I think it ended up being far easier to use it this way.

As for the top of the dresser, after sanding it smooth I gave it one coat of Varathane’s Early American wood stain followed by a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

I had initially planned to go darker … or maybe lighter … but in the end I decided to match the original wood knobs for the dresser.

If you look back at the ‘before’ photo you will see that nnK had switched out the original knobs for some modern stainless steel knobs.  Fortunately, she had hung onto those wood knobs.  In fact, she had even stripped them at some point.

So all I did was give them a coat of clear wax and put them back on.

Once the knobs were on, it made sense to stain the top to match.

I posed the dresser in front of my Little Lime hydrangea, adding some books and an old brass birdcage.

I was then plagued by a photo bomber for a bit …

Lucy is always drawn like a magnet to photo shoots.  She thinks there must be something super interesting going on, so she has to check it out.

But she finally got bored and I was able to finish my photos.

I love how it turned out, but I have to admit that it isn’t really nnK’s style.  She’s probably secretly horrified by what I’ve done to it.  But what do you think?  Leave a comment and let me know.

This dresser is for sale locally so be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details if interested.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for supplying the paint and wax used on this project.

31 thoughts on “nnK’s dresser.”

  2. Beautiful! You have such a great eye – I love the transfer placement and the feel of a lovely garden that the piece has now. The vintage styling is great and your placement in your own garden is picture perfect. Thanks for a spot of beauty this morning as the storms head our way in Tennessee!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Linda,

    From plain Jane to graceful lady! You did a beautiful job! Your placement of the transfer was perfection 😉! smiles, alice

    Like

    Reply

  4. Fantastic upcycle! I couldn’t believe it when I saw that transfer! I’ve had my eye on it for a couple weeks now & have a dresser in the garage that it will be going on. Now that you’ve shared this I’m much less apprehensive since this will be my first furniture decal!

    Btw, I’m out of state & curious if you know the date of your holiday sale? I might try to coordinate with my Bestie from college & visit her then so we can shop your goodies! Thanx!

    Like

    Reply

    1. The transfer is gorgeous for sure! When you say my ‘holiday sale’ I’m not sure what you are referring to. I won’t be having another Carriage House sale here at my house until next May or June, is that what you mean? If so, I haven’t yet picked a specific date.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I must have mis-read something, I thought I read where you were having a holiday sale, like before Christmas. So I will try to keep May open. Have you been to Iowa? Specifically the What Cheer Flea Market? It’s worth the drive!!!!!! It’s ALWAYS the first FULL weekend in May, August and October, held at the county fairgrounds with over 400 vendors on 20 acres. There is food (best funnel cakes ever), ATM’s, decent parking and restrooms. Nothing fancy but just good old fashioned JUNK! Some of it is more ‘garage sale-ish’, some antiques (with high prices) but nice people and you can rent a golf cart. Not much else in town except for a Casey’s and Dollar General. Our daughter gets married on Oct. 5th this year so it will be the first one in probably 10 years (my fav one is Oct) that I’ll miss, so next May 1-4 will be the dates in 2025 (early bird day is Thurs) and free admission on Sundays). Fingers crossed we see you next May! Thanks! ~ Lora

        Like

      2. I have not been to Iowa, but we do have several similar events here, like Junk Bonanza or Oronoco Gold Rush. In fact, I bet a lot of the vendors at your event also do Gold Rush too (it is held near Rochester, so not terribly far from Iowa). I haven’t been back to Gold Rush for a few years, but it was always a fun time.

        Like

  12. I really like how it turned out. Cheers to you for taking the chance on using the transfer! It looks great and I love how the knobs fit in with the coloring of the flowers–just like they belong.

    Like

    Reply

  15. Really pretty. As always…

    Just read that Vicks Vapor Rub will keep deer, squirrels, mosquitos and others away. Maybe help your plants outdoors. I am going to try on bird feeders, to keep squirrels away….we shall see, down here in Texas??

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.