There is a small dresser in Callie’s room that has been in my family for many years.  I believe it was my grandmother’s when she was a child.  It served as a dresser for my doll clothes when I was little and now it resides in my little girl’s room.  It needed a re-vamp as the finish was in less than great shape and the knobs were dated.  I found inspiration on Pinterest and I began working on it.  The project is not yet finished but I wanted to show you my progress thus far.

This dresser was my inspiration for my project.  I have loved this transformed Hemnes dresser from Ikea since the moment I laid eyes on it.

Here is what my dresser looked like before.

I began by removing the knobs, filling the old knob holes with putty and giving it a light sanding with my mouse sander.

I then primed the base and drawers with a spray paint primer.

Since I have been a bit obsessed with paintable wallpaper lately (see hutch), I purchased some more from Lowes to complete this project.

I then cut my wallpaper to size.  The trim pieces were purchased from Home Depot along with a miter box since that is the only way to cut trim this thin.

As you can see above I was working outside on our spa and left my materials out overnight.  BIG mistake!  It rained and my pre-pasted wallpaper was drenched and thus needed to be applied in a flash the next morning.  Some of the edges did peel up quite easily after the wallpaper dried so I did add some wood glue underneath them for better adhesion.  I have not had any issues with this wallpaper adhering in the past so I’m sure the paste was in less than stellar shape after sitting in the rain overnight.

I then began to measure and cut my trim pieces.  This was time consuming with the miter box but worth the effort.  I glued the trim down rather than nailing it because the pieces are so thin and fragile.  I used painters tape to secure them while they dried.

Now it’s time to caulk some of the gaps between the wallpaper and the trim.  I will also caulk some of the mitered corners that have gaps.  A little paint and new knobs and this baby will have a whole new lease on life. Check back next week and see the finished product.