Dresser Makeover: Hand Painted Tree

One of my favorite things is a good DIY project.  It's just finding the time to do them!   So for September's resolution, Katie and I are checking off some of these projects from our Pinterest to-do list.  I am so excited to share this first one with you!

You've seen the pictures before on Pinterest: an old dresser with a beautiful hand-painted design on the front.  (My inspiration specifically came from this beautiful turquoise dresser from I Can't Stop Crafting.)  I just loved how these dressers looked, and I knew I wanted to do it for our kids! 

My Project: I wanted to turn an old, ugly hutch into a beautiful (baby changing) dresser.  The perfect DIY project for our kid's bedroom.

My Piece:  An old hutch rescued from my grandparent's garage.  It had water damage at the bottom on one side, and it had a really bad stain job.  Its knobs were awful - too big and in the wrong places.

But it was perfect because it had tons of storage, the top part of the hutch was removable...and it was free!

It was just crying to be rescued!

I didn't get a great "Before" picture, but here's the hutch pretty close to the beginning stages.  In this pic, we had already sanded it and removed the top part of the hutch.  And the old knobs aren't pictured (the new ones are on it in the pic), but they were wooden and very large.  You can see their old location because of the large white patched areas.

My Plan:  Use the base of the hutch as a baby changing dresser (for now and just as a dresser when the kids get older).  I wanted to paint it white, hand-paint a tree on the front, and add new, fun knobs shaped like birds.  The water damage would need to be addressed as well.

Thankfully, the water damage was limited to one side, only near the base.  We (as in my husband ;) cut out that area in such a way that it made it look like the hutch had legs.  We did this to the other side as well for a consistent look.  It looks like it was always meant to be this way!

After a good sanding, I got to painting.  We used white paint that the previous homeowners left behind (you can't beat free!) and gave it several coats.

After it had been painted white, I started designing the tree.  First, I roughly sketched out the tree shape I wanted on a piece of paper:

After that, I sketched it out lightly in pencil on the front of the dresser.  Finally, it was time to paint!

We laid the dresser down on the floor on its back because that way, I could paint from any angle - which made it much easier!  I also used an outdoor garden knee pad to kneel on to save my knees.

For the dark brown paint for the tree, we got a sample of Behr paint (my favorite brand) in the color "Aging Barrel" ($3-4).  I also needed special, smaller paint brushes, so I got those at Hobby Lobby (for around $6).

Almost there!

 
For the handles, we decided to put bird knobs on the top two drawers (Hobby Lobby, $3 each - when their knobs were 50% off) and oil rubbed bronze knobs to match the tree for the rest (Lowes, around $4 each).  The birds add a nice touch, don't you think?

This is definitely the most ambitious DIY project I've ever done, but it has also been my favorite.  It turned out better than I ever thought it would.  I am beyond thrilled with how it looks!

I still can't believe that just a short time ago, this hutch was just a cast off in a garage.  Now, it's a beautiful showpiece in our kid's bedroom.  What a beautiful transformation!

This was my first "trash to treasure" project and my first DIY furniture re-do.  It was definitely hard work, but it was so worth it in the end.  It is just beautiful.  Now, I'm really looking forward to doing some more furniture makeovers.  Thanks, Pinterest, for the inspiration!

What furniture projects have you done?  Or do you have plans for one?

Are you on Pinterest?  Leave your link in the comments, so we can follow you too!

This project was featured on:

Place of My Taste

Kenarry and Addison Meadow Lane

Confessions of a Serial DIYer: 20 Inspiring Pinterest Projects

Pin Junkie

Elizabeth and Co.

I'm linking up with these awesome parties!