Roadside Rescue Dresser Turned Entertainment Stand

Have you ever been on your way somewhere and you spot a discarded piece of treasure on the side of the road?

Then you have to rush home and figure out how you're going to ask your loving hubby to take the truck and make a trip to grab it before some other DIY'er nabs it?

Well that is what happened....

He said seriously honey, not again......dont you have enough projects going on?

He graciously agreed and off we went.

All he could say as we were loading it is babe, this is a piece of garbage.

I said It may be a laminate top but I would not call it garbage......just help me load it.

So he did and off we went with a big smile on my face!!

As you can see it was missing all the drawers except for two and I put those on the bottom.

The dresser was not solid wood

but that is OK I saw some potential and I had never painted a laminate piece before so I wanted to dig in and get some practice.

 I took my favorite tool, my sander and sanded all the laminate until it was dull.

I have read that laminate has to be primed so out with the primer.

I wanted a grey undertone since I wanted to paint it barn red and have some grey color showing through after I distressed it.

So I added some black acrylic paint to the primer to turn it grey.

Here she is with the first coat of primer........

Now the second coat of primer just to make sure the laminate is good and covered

after a light sanding .....

it was time for a purdy coat of barn red paint

Once I had the two coast of red paint on

 I lightly sanded..........

I love the way glazing on furniture looks

It gives it a rich antique look

It makes the color pop as well

I chose to Mod-Podge a cool woodsy turquoise paneling scrapbook paper onto the backboard of the dresser/entertainment center.

This is not easy to do for someone who likes things perfect......

because when the paper gets wet those of you that have done this know exactly what I am getting ready to say.

it wrinkles and bubbles up............

you have to be be patient and work it and work it to get out the bubbles and wrinkles.

I have learned to get the worst out and the rest will usually take care of itself once it dries.

I distressed it with some sandpaper so some of the grey would show through.

The inside walls were painted a pretty turquoise color to match the scrapbook paper I put on the back.

I ask my wonderful hubby to cut me some pallet boards down so we could make rustic shelving to replace the missing drawers.

I Love me some pallets that you can get free at so many places.

These come in handy when you need some rustic wood.

I stained and added a semi-gloss poly on them to bring out the grain of the wood.

can you say beautiful!!

All the sliders were removed of course from the side walls when I paint the the yummy turquoise color.

I used the original hardware and spray painted them a color that contrasted with the inside of the dresser/entertainment center.

With a little hard-work and creativity this roadside find turned out beautiful.


My girlfriend Kaye moved into her new home and I gave this to her as a housewarming gift.

She loves it!!

She has it in her living room with her TV on top and all her goodies nestled inside this warm trash turned to treasure.




What have you rescued from the side of the road lately?



Until next time,

Meet Aggie, The Step Back Hutch Transformation

Trash To Treasure

Miss Aggie

I found this less than to be desired solid wood hutch at one of my favorite thrift stores "Restore"

Hubby and I went a few weeks ago looking for some furniture that I could refinish, then sell to use the profits towards my son Jared's health care expenses.  You can read the story here overcoming-lifes-struggles

Look at this original hardware......

It was all rusty and needed some serious help.  But oh my, you can't buy hinges that look like this with the rope detail.

Look at the date on these pull knobs...... 1967.......

I was not even in Kindergarten yet.

So Hubby and I took this girl home, took her apart and stripped the paint off the two shelves and I stained them a warm walnut.

we removed the ugly, Uh, bulky corner round molding.

After starting this project,  I thought self, you have bitten off more than you can chew.

Honestly, when I saw her in all her solid wood dirty glory standing in the restore isle, with her quirky curves, along with her 1960's contact paper on the shelving, I was smitten, I saw beauty......

I knew what she could become after her transformation.

Mr. Color It Simple said you see something in this ugly duckling.    REALLY?????

I said REALLY!!!!!  I know she will be a one-of-a-kind unique show stopper........

WE can transform her in to a beautiful loved vintage piece.

He agreed ...............so off we went

This piece had not been factory made, it had been hand made which excited me even more.

After all the cleaning and boy this piece was disgusting she was sanded and painted.

I painted her a beautiful shade of Marlboro blue From Valspar.

That would be the color on the bottom shelf above.  It was not what I had in my vision but it was a start. 

We painters know it is all about the layers.

Being that this marlboro blue was to baby bluish for my vision, I dry brushed her entire body with another shade of blue-grey.

Now we are getting somewhere........


After that step I distressed then glazed her with a warm walnut, then waxed to finish her off

 ..........now it was time for the details.

Yes details all wrapped up and topped off like a beautiful bow on that special gift. 

If you noticed the walnut stained rope molding above, I added this to her sides to set her off.

At this point she is beaming with pride.

 However, she needed some more jewelry.......

 A Necklace? that's it a Necklace........ she was adorned with two wooden stained embellishments in the center of her curvy shelving. 

Last but not least she was screaming for some designer fabric.

Aggie wanted to feel oh so elegant and shabby all at the same time.

 Instead of painting the back piece of wood, I covered her in a beautiful cream and black printed French Typography print.

Now she was ready for staging.

Standing tall in all her glory, ready for her runway debut on Etsy for the world to see.

Even down to the pretty embellishment that were added to grace her two doors.

A little sanding her hinges and some brushed oil broze spray paint she looked polished.

A ton of hard work and love went into Aggie's transformation.

I love Aggie, she turned out beautiful.

Aggie is up for SALE, Now she is waiting for someone to love her as much as we do and take her to her new home.

You can find her in Etsy at my shop "The Distressed Nest"

So what do you think?


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Until next time,