I’ve been searching for a dresser or bookshelf for my room for months. My current storage options have become woefully inadequate and since throwing out half my belongings seems like a rash step, I’ve put out the feelers for new furniture. My family is full of thrift store shoppers so I told them what I needed and turned them loose. Despite what I’m sure was a valiant search, nothing turned up. Everything was out of my (insanely tiny) price range, not exactly what I needed or needed way too much work. I had almost given up and decided that I should just invest in nice looking laundry baskets since it was obvious my clothes were going to take up permanent residence.
Then today I met a very nice man who very much wanted to sell me a dresser. He pushed me towards a 1930’s dresser with a great curve and lovely handles, and then the two of us both marveled at a great piece with carved clawfeet and intricately carved wooden knobs. Of course, at around $400 it was so far out of my price range that it couldn’t even see my range with a NASA telescope. Finally, I was on my way out the door and we were chatting about websites and marketing ideas and he remembered they had just gotten a dresser that day and he wanted me to have it. It was well built with deep drawers but it was a major fixer upper and when it comes to fixing things up, I’m like the opposite of Bob Villa. But he basically was giving it to me for a song and a smile, so I left the store with a new friend and an old dresser.
It’s apparently mahogany that was painted olive green then painted white. It’s got four drawers, eight knobs and several issues. A few things needed to be nailed or fixed, lots of stuff needed to be sanded and several layers of paint needed to be peeled off. I mentally made a list of things that I knew I how to do and when my list ended up being a big ‘ol zero, I quickly enlisted the help of my brother in law. Together we hauled the dresser out back and while he started working on making structural repairs, I started scraping paint. I’ve discovered that it’s not a job that is particularly exciting, but it’s one that I’m capable of doing. For a long time.
A really long time.
Eventually, I got enough off to start sanding, which is actually less fun than scrapping layers of paint. Sadly, this whole activity was in the afternoon so I had to pack it in before the sunset. This project is going to take longer than I thought, but I feel good with how it went today. I ended up with paint on my nose, sawdust in my hair and more than one splinter…but I feel like I’m actually learning things and accomplishing something kinda awesome.
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