Toddler Room Series: Paint and Stain A DIY Dresser Part 1

This blogging thing is new to me, as you know, so being consistent while being a wife and a mama is something that I am learning. So, please be patient with me ( not that any of you haven’t been) as I become better with putting posts up every week. It would even help to hear from you now and again encouraging me to get something up!

Back to our program of the day….let me tell you a little about how this dresser came to be. My hubby built it! He used plans that he modified from this wonderful site Anna-white.com. When we bought my son’s crib/toddler bed I always had plans to find an old dresser and refinish it. Well, I searched for months on various sites and couldn’t really find anything to suit the style of the room. So, started looking for dressers to buy. That didn’t turn up many options for me either because they were either way more than I wanted to spend ( I am actually a pretty frugal gal!) or just too small. When all else failed, I did what any independent/ do-it-yourself- woman would do…I whined to the hubby! Ha! And he’s such a nice guy…in the mist of house projects he was completing he built this lovely dresser. Its made of select pine wood he bought from Home Depot.

Lets get into the show and tell, shall we (get ready for a picture heavy post)?

(This is the dresser without the fronts attached. Oh, and I have a permanent home for those books already in the works!)

                                                                                                              THE STAINING PROCESS

Step 1. I removed all the dresser fronts because that will make it easier to paint and stain.

Step 2. I dusted off the dresser removing any dirt or hair. The products used were stain, polyurethane top coat, a paint can opener and a clean rag to apply the stain that was torn from an old shirt.

The color of stain at I chose was Varathane’s Dark Walnut to match his bed (shown below). Now, this was my first time using this brand, usually I use Minwax just cause back in the day, when I began staining things, that’s just what I chose. But, if my memory serves me correctly, I couldn’t find the particular stain color I needed for Minwax when I was shopping. Minwax has served us well in the past, we will see how this Varathane holds up to the kiddie bops!

Step 3. Per the instructions on the can ( I am a big follower of rules) we shook the stain before use, and opened it. We dipped a section of our rag into the stain and began staining using long strokes in the direction of the grain of the wood. It’s important to go in the direction of the grain because otherwise you might end up with streaks that settle and will be seen even after drying. That is no bueno!

Step 4. Also per the instructions on the can, I followed up with a clean, dry rag to wipe of any excess stain 2-3 min after application.

Those bright spots are some kind of substance. You can sand those, then try to reapply the stain. But, look, I ain’t doin all that for a kids dresser that will get dings anyway!

Step 5. Just a repeat of steps 3-4 until all the to-be-stained surfaces are covered. It actually did not take long to do. I let it dry for 24hrs so that I could decide rather to do another coat or to move on to the protection stage (polyurethane. I decided not to do another coat because I wanted the tone of the dresser to match that of the bed and I believe one coat achieved that.

note: I did not stain the back of the dresser because it will probably never be seen !

                                                                                                               THE PAINTING PROCESS

These are the products I used.

The paint is just a stock paint right of the shelf that I think I picked up from walmart, called ColorPlace interior latex paint in a semi-gloss sheen. I don’t know if this has a primer built in because, as you can see, the label is covered with paint. I usually prefer a primer built in because it cuts down the number of coats of paint needed.

Step 1. I sanded the edges of the fronts, even though they will not be seen or painted because I just wanted to lessen the chances of the babies getting splinters or getting scrapes from rough wood. I also sanded any other rough parts of the drawer fronts that would be covered by paint. We used a sanding block of grit of 120. See the before and after below.

Step 2. Knock off all dust to make sure the surfaces are clean.

Step 3.  wet the brush in the water a bit, wiping off the excess,  dip the brush in the paint and begin with long brush strokes. It’s important to make sure there isn’t too much paint on your brush to avoid globs of paint that will make your surface uneven.

This is after one coat of paint.

Step 4. I let the surface dry to the touch and added another thin coat of paint.

I repeated this process on all of the fronts. This paint dries pretty fast so almost as soon as I finished the last board, the first board was ready for another coat. I ended up doing 3 coats. In hind’s sight, I wish I would have used a roller brush to apply the paint because it would have gone on way more evenly and have taken less coats…but I was being too lazy to go to the store to buy one…don’t be like me, kids.

                                                                                                             ATTACHING THE DRAWER FRONTS

When the fronts were dry, I attached them to the drawers in the manner described below:  

Step 1. Dry fit the drawers without attaching them to make sure they will fit the way you want them.

Step 2. Use a piece of cardboard as a spacer. He did this to make sure the drawer would pull out properly.

Step 3. Add the glue ( liquid nails)  in the best pattern.

Step 4. Secure with nails. Then repeat steps 1-4 until all drawers are attached

Okkkkkk. So that was part one of painting and staining our toddlers dresser. You guys don’t know how long it has taken me to get this up! But, I am glad it is done and part two/ the unveiling will be up shortly so be sure to check back for it!