Decorative Domingo: Charlotte's Girly Dresser

Imagine--IMAGINE--the horror I experienced when I realized I couldn't find (or simply didn't have?) a BEFORE photo of Charlotte's reworked dresser. I guess that's what I get for taking months and months to complete this relatively simple project. But I could've sworn . . .

At any rate, imagine the before dresser as a cheap Target dresser, all white, including white knobs. We bought it when setting up Lorelei's nursery, giving Charlotte's NICE, espresso brown dresser to her unborn sister. We bought the Target one, intending for it to be temporary until something better would take its place.

Well, fast forward 3 years. Poor girl still had the shitty dresser. Not so temporary, I guess. But hey, the dresser was solid. Cheap and basic, but solid. Nary a problem with the thing. So, tough to justify replacing, yet also .  . . just sort of crappy.

But wait! Crappy = super low stakes for a craft project! So, I invested in a $10 container of Martha Stewart vintage furniture paint (I probably had a coupon, actually), bought some girly pink, vintage-style knobs through Amazon, and Chris made about 14 trips to the local hardware store to figure out how to get the screws and knobs to securely fit the drawers. He did it cheerfully and got the knobs perfectly attached without a single utterance of profanity.

(I might be lying.)

I did the dresser in stages, starting with painting the stripes on the sides. Then the top. Then the insets on the drawers. Then, of course, the glitzy pink knobs. It took me months. People with more time on their hands could've done it in an afternoon.

Because I had to clear out the drawers for the knob-and-screw trial and error, Charlotte and I went through everything and got it all organized, either neatly folded and organized by season, or put into the Lorelei Box or giveaway bag. I adore a good purge and organization, so that alone felt like an improvement to her room.

Charlotte loves her "new" dresser. "It's like I have a whole new room!" she exclaimed. Ahh, that's the power of decorating, my love. That's the power of decorating.