One person's trash.....

Is another person's treasure!!!!

A few weeks ago, our neighborhood had "Bulk Trash Pick-Up". You always know when it's about that time because you street starts to look a little 'WT'....if you catch my drift. You've got random refrigerators sitting by the curb....sinks.... ratty old couches etc. Occasionally, you will pass by something and think "I can't BELIEVE they are getting rid of that!".

Well friends. This time, I actually did something about it. On my way home from work, I was driving through our neighborhood and saw this chest of drawers sitting outside someones house. They were old..the back was falling off...cobb webs on the inside, but it was solid wood! Surely with a little TLC, I could make this a nice piece of furniture. SO...with James still at work, I loaded it into my car..by myself. I only WISH I had a picture of me doing this. It was SOO heavy. I don't know where I came up with the strength to do it, but if there is a will...there's a way!

As I was piling it into my car..not one, but TWO people drove by and said that they also saw this on their way home ...and they were coming back to pick this up! That's when I knew I wasn't crazy for doing this...and it was a steal!

I took it straight to Tiffany's house because I knew James wouldn't have the same "vision" as I did. He was heading out of town the following weekend, and I decided he didn't need to know ALL the details about my project. :)

So after one hot Sunday and $20 at Home Depot, it's finally finished!!! I have a brand new piece of furniture!! What do you think??

BEFORE & AFTER

NOTE: The "before" picture was after I gave it a good wipe down. I don't have a picture of what it looked like RIGHT off the street.

The project was super easy!

I gave it a good wipe down, sanded all surfaces, and took the hardware off the drawers.




I did two coats of Mirawax Gel Stain in Dark Walnut and then finished with a Mirawax polyurethane finishing coat.






The hardware gave me some issues. I first tried to "polish" them up with Tarnex to give them a good shine and remove the tarnish. I don't know what happened, but I think I completely stripped the bronze of their original finish. One turned pink and the other was just multi-colored. So...I went with a back-up plan....SPRAY PAINT!!!

TADA!!! The finished product! It didn't quite fit in our guest bedroom, but it was perfect for this little spot in our entry way. We had an old desk there that didn't go at all...not that a chest of drawers goes in a dining room, but it's much better!

So....what did I do with my new STORAGE???


ORGANIZE ALL MY WRAPPING PAPER SUPPLIES!! :)



Yes - I admit it. I'm a tissue paper saver AND gift bag re-user.

I can't tell you how much space this opened up in our study. The 4th drawer has gift bags, but no matter what angle I took the picture...it looked "messy"...even though it was completely organized. So I opted out of including it! :)