Furniture Makeover | Gentlemen’s Dresser

Finally, I am able to share with you the finished result of this furniture makeover!! I have been so excited to share this transformation with you so let’s get to it!

Our client was a bit nervous to do anything to this antique gentlemen’s dresser (probably dates to the mid to late 1800s) that she had acquired from her mom. Her mom had treasured the piece for years.

Changes….

She was concerned about changing the appearance of the piece and asked herself if she might like the changes or regret them.

And yet she wanted the piece to be lighter and brighter for their beach home.

Her daughter convinced her to make the change!

Now listen, I totally understand the scary part of change. It is hard to look at a piece of furniture that has been passed down to you and then make a drastic change to it!

But she was so glad she did make the change! I mean, look at this gorgeous piece of furniture now!

“Lighter and brighter?” Girl, we can do that!!

missing pieces

You might notice that the top surface is missing. It is a marble piece that we decided to leave at the client’s home while we did the furniture makeover at our shop.

But don’t worry, the marble shows up later in this post 😉

the harp

Let’s start to talk about the amazing details this gentlemen’s dresser has.

The harp for starters! The wood carving on it is stunning! But you couldn’t really see the gorgeous handiwork when the wood was all dark.

The wood is lighter now since we painted it in Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint ‘Marzipan’ and the distressing brings attention to the carved details.

the boxes

And look at the boxes that rest on the top surface! This is the spot where the gentlemen would put their belongings like a money clip, a pocket watch, cigars and other items he might have collected throughout his day.

All tucked away neat and tidy in the two boxes that are attached to the harp.

the carved details

The top sections of the harp are especially pretty, or should I say handsome since it is a gentlemen’s dresser?

O golly, let’s just call it what it is — gorgeous!!

I especially love the handmade decorative screws that hold the mirror in place. The dowel that supports the mirror screws in and was hand-turned! If that’s not interesting enough, the two wood screws that are on either side of the mirror don’t match!

Don’t you love a good mytstery??

The mirror is a beautiful piece of glass with so-called flaws like this. Character, that’s what I call it!

no marble? no problem!

Even without the marble, it is a beautiful piece!

the drawers

Let’s move on to the drawers! This gentlemen’s dresser had a secret/hidden drawer. Scroll back to the first image in this post and you will see that it is hardly noticeable!

We kept it that way by painting the drawer front just like the rest of the framing.

As for the other drawers, they were sanded down to the bare wood. The dresser is solid cherry and had some red/orange undertones. We decided to white wax it using Miss Mustard Seed White Wax.

Each drawer pull was removed, sanded down by hand, waxed, and then buffed. Taking the time to do this type of handwork produces results like this….

Hand-cut dovetails give these drawers the hand-crafted look in an authentic way. Look closely and you can see the scribe marks the craftsman used to make sure his dovetails were perfect. Drawer details on furniture makeovers are the best!

The inside of the top drawer also has three little cubbies, two of which have lids. I am crazy about details like this!

Isn’t the contrast of the painted surface and the white wax natural wood gorgeous? In my opinion, the contrast helps to define the piece. One enhances the other.

the brass

And the final touch this craftsman added to this gorgeous piece? Brass casters of course! Cindy loves her casters!

delivery day

We delivered the piece to our client’s beach home this morning and helped her set it up in her master bedroom. Perfection, don’t you think??

We placed the marble top on and it was like a match made in heaven! I thought it looked gorgeous without it but then when we put the marble top on?? Well, I have no words!

The veining has gray and almond tones that go perfectly with the paint and the waxed wood tones of the piece.

so glad you’re here!

Thanks so much for joining this furniture makeover! If you would like to watch the process of this transformation, be sure to checkout my Instagram profile where I have a highlight bubble called Tutorials. You’ll see the process there!

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furniture makeover

And because I couldn’t choose which one I liked better, here are two images for you to pin to your Pinterest boards!

Hey, let me know in the comments what you think of this furniture makeover and while you’re at it, let me know which pin you like best, the first or the second!