When you have an old dresser at home, conventional wisdom suggests that you might wish to do away with it and get something new and stylish in replacement. However, before you take that old dresser to the dump, you might wish to take a quick look at the various options that exist for you. For example, do you know that a few simple DIY tips could help to make that dresser look fresher than ever?
Here are some useful ways that you could take an old dresser and utterly transform it.
Stain it up
The best place to get started with is a new stain. Staining dressers are great as they can give you a great way to make the dresser look new and fresh. Be sure to look into both oil-based and water-based options. Oil-based options tend to penetrate into the wood without impacting the grain. They are best used outdoors, though, as they produce a very strong scent. Water-based staining is less impactful, but it tends to be cheaper and can be buffed and cleaned with ease in the future.
Always use furniture staining, though, not the cheaper deck staining – it is NOT the same thing.
Clean with TSP
Another useful way to make an old dresser look as good as new is to whip off all the fixtures. This means removing all of the drawers, the knobs, the handles, and everything else. Strip it down to just the basic foundation. Do that, and then use trisodium phosphate, or TSP, for a very strong cleaning solution. Dilute as instructed on the box, and then wipe down with a sponge or spray gun to apply the solution. Let it dry and then ensure that it is used exactly as intended on the box otherwise you can injure yourself and/or damage the wood.
Sand it down
Of course, your dresser might look good even with nothing more than a quicksand down. Some sanding makes a great way to change the look because it can help you to get rid of the top layer that looks damaged or dull. Always try and sand with the grain of the wood, and make sure that any swirl marks are sanded out as you go.
This is useful as it can bring the wood back to its basic form, and then you can apply a new stain to help add a new look overall.
Seal it
Lastly, you might also want to think about using a sealer after sanding. Once sanded to the level you wanted, you should then use a sanding sealer to help ensure that your dresser takes to a new stain finish with the right level of confidence. This is useful as it can make sure you can also protect the wood from warping or being damaged once you start to apply some extra things like staining.
Try these tips out, and you might find it a bit easier to bring that old, tired dresser to life again.