"$40" dresser makeover

I guess if, like me, you like to buy furniture from thrift stores you probably already know how big your car is, you know, so you don't buy anything that won't fit....

I evidently didn't when I bought this guy;

It was taller than we ideally wanted but it was priced at $40 which was far cheaper than anything else I'd seen so I bought it but as I was on my bike I arranged to come back at the weekend with the car and husband to pick it up. 

So the following Saturday we came back to get it. It didn't fit in the car. We tried every possible way for 20 minutes. I felt like such an idiot! 

So faced with either donating it back to the shop for free (no returns obv) and losing $40 or hiring $19 van from the Uhaul across the street to get it home, we opted for hiring a van. $19 seemed like a good deal. 

$19 is a LIE is what it is! It may be the starting price but with tax, insurance, per mile fees etc etc. It ended up costing us $35 to get a van and drive the massive 3 mile round trip to our flat and back. So, $75 down and half of our Saturday wasted messing about with U-haul, I started to really felt like an idiot. 

Anyway, once it was home, I started to forgot all of that and I think it was just about worth it in the end - it now looks like this; 

It has 2 coats of Founding Father from dutch boy and then I lightly distressed the edges and details. I then finished it with a clear Behr faux glaze with a regular black craft paint mixed in it (3ish parts to one) applied with a cloth (inspired by lovely makeovers like this). I didn't change the hardware, just sprayed it with Krylon oil robbed bronze spraypaint. 

It was my first time using glaze and I love that it breaks up the solid colour and gives it more texture. I just did one coat though as I think it may just start to look dirty with any more- its a fine line between well-used and well-grubby!

I may go back and use it on this project too.

PS don't my fabric covered corkboards look nice above the desk? Remnant fabric too. SCORE. 

sophie