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Wood Furniture Makeover – Desk and Dresser Transformation

A while back, like a long while back, I had told you that I had painted Emanuelle’s desk and dresser. Do you remember?  That was last year!! Anyways, I’m happy to say that I have finally taken photos of the furniture! YAY!

Wood Furniture Makeover - Desk and Dresser Transformation

The desk and dresser have belonged to Sébastien for the longest time. He had them in his bedroom when we first started dating 16 years ago! When we moved in together, they followed us (you don’t just get rid of wood furniture!). Emanuelle’s bedroom use to be our office, and when she was born we left both those pieces in the room. We used the desk as a changing table, we stored diapers and blankets in the drawers. The dresser became her dresser. We never did anything to the furniture, we just left them as is. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Here are the before photos of the desk and dresser:

Plain wood desk Plain wood dresser

After we made her big girl bed and shutter headboard, we figured it was time to give the desk and dresser some love. We took out some paint and gave both pieces a new fresh look, perfect for Emanuelle’s bedroom.

Wood Desk Makeover Wood Dresser Makeover

Wood Furniture Makeover

Supplies:
– Wood furniture
– Screw driver
– Saw
Wood dowel or wood plugs
– Wood filler
– Plastic spatula
Rotary sander
Drill
– Paint (BEHR PREMIUM PLUS ULTRA® Interior Semi-Gloss Enamel – Paint and Primer in one – Pure White)
– Paint brush or small foam paint roller
Crystal Drawer Pulls

Instructions:
Step 1: We started off by removing the handles from the desk and dresser.
Remove old handles from desk and dresser

Step 2: We sanded both pieces enough so that most of the varnish was gone.
How to sand a wood desk

Step 3: We were changing the handles completely so we needed to fill in the holes from the previous handles. We made our own wood plugs by cutting pieces from a wood dowel. The plugs were a little too snug, so we filed them down a little. We put a little bit of glue around the plugs. We placed the plugs over the holes and used a piece of wood and hammer to hammer them into the holes. (We used a piece of wood to prevent hammer marks on the furniture). Once the plugs were secured in place, we sanded them down until they were flush with the rest of the drawers.
How to make wood plugs

Step 4: We used wood filler to fill in the gaps around the wood plugs. Once dry, we used the rotary sander to sand them down. (When you rub your fingers over the plugs, you shouldn’t feel them… if you do.. sand some more.) We marked down where we wanted the new handles and drilled the new holes. We sanded lightly over the new holes.
How to add new handles

Step 5: We applied 2 coats of paint on both pieces of furniture. (As you can see, Emanuelle helped too!) Once the paint was dried, we added the new pink crystal drawer pulls! We also added a glass top onto the Ema’s desk for extra protection (she likes to draw on everything!).
How to paint a dresser

And voilà, Emanuelle’s white bedroom furniture:

Wood Furniture Makeover - Desk and Dresser Transformation Wood Furniture Makeover - Desk and Dresser Transformation

What do you think? Don’t they look fabulous? I love how the white brightens her room! And the pink crystal drawer knobs are soooo pretty! She loves how sparkly they are, she says they make her bedroom feel like a princess room!

Have a great day!!

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P.S. I’ll be linking to these Parties.

Dani Kogan

Monday 18th of May 2015

WOW! The makeover is really amazing. It feels surprising to see that with a few very simple DIY steps, you can do such beautiful makeovers. That outdated wooden cupboard now looks great. And the color combination is even awesome. Your daughter is very cute. Great work and thanks for sharing the tips with us.

Lory at Designthusiasm

Thursday 17th of July 2014

Wow, what a difference! Sweet and lovely and perfect for a little girl... :-)

Jocie@TheBetterHalf

Thursday 12th of June 2014

It looks amazing and Emanuelle is so precious! Thanks so much for linking up last week and Creativity Unleashed. Pinning and featuring you tomorrow on the blog! Hope to see you back. :)

Diana

Thursday 5th of June 2014

I love how this came out! Thanks so much for linking up to DIY Inspired. I'll be featuring it in tomorrow's party post. :) XOXO

Kathi Riemer

Thursday 5th of June 2014

This furniture is so adorable. I love the crystal drawer handles and the pink.

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