This has been a summer of dressers!

I was just finishing two other dressers when Mary reached out to me to restore these two dressers that had been in her family for years.

I don’t know why I don’t photograph the tops of things! These tops were really beat up! And the tall dresser’s back leg was broken. They definitely needed some love!

One of the most rewarding things for me is to see how the original hardware cleans up. These took some elbow grease, but turned out beautifully in the end. This is a picture of them after soaking in my crock pot for 5 hours. And then the bottom right is how they looked after a good scrubbing with Brasso.

The brass pops against the General Finishes Lamp Black milk paint.

These dressers are from the furniture maker Stickley and they are SOLID wood. They were so heavy that I didn’t even ask my husband to help me carry them inside to photograph. So these aren’t my usual staged after photos, but I hope you can see the beauty of them! The first photo of the short dresser best represents the color of Lamp Black. The tall dresser caught the sun a little too much – but again – SO heavy to move!

I am most excited about how the dresser tops turned out! I love painted furniture, but I am also a huge lover of wood grain. These were stained with General Finishes Antique Walnut Gel Stain and sealed with three coats of High Performance Gloss Top Coat.

These dressers will definitely be handed down to another generation in this family!

Thank you for trusting me with these, Mary! I am happy that I could be a part of bringing them back to life!

… Kristin