A good dresser can have the presence to perk up any room. It does need to be a good one, though. If you have had yours for years, it could look a little worn out at the edges.
Here are a few DIY dresser makeover ideas that anyone can try.
1. Paper up your dresser
If you have decorative paper, Mod Podge, new drawer pulls and a little time on your hands, papering up your dresser is a great way to perk it up. You don’t even need to cut the paper to size before you apply it. You can cut it a little larger than it needs to be and then trim it with an X-Acto knife once it is glued on.
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To make sure that the edges of the paper don’t get damaged with use, buy a can of acrylic spray and coat the front of each drawer with it.
2. Dress up your dresser
Covering your dresser in a patterned fabric is a great way to refresh its look. For the full effect of a dressed-up dresser, you need to pay attention to continuity by covering the entire dresser and not just the drawer faces.
You can make cuts for the drawers after the fabric glue dries.
3. Mirror it up
Using custom-cut mirrors to decorate the front of your dresser can be a great way to glam it up. It can be much easier, though, to simply buy mirror tiles at a craft store.
They cost no more than $5 for a package of 100 small pieces. Since these mirrors usually have adhesive backs, you can even have your kids stick them on.
4. The lacy dresser
Lace can be a beautiful material to decorate the front of a dresser with. Gluing lace to the front of your dresser isn’t your only option, though.
You can also consider using lace as a stencil. When you spray paint on lace, the paint will get through the openings. You will end up with a unique lacy paint effect.
5. Get new decorative hardware
New hardware is one of the easiest ways to freshen up an old dresser. Four bright, chrome corner brackets on each drawer is a good way to start.
New drawer pulls are another idea. You can be as adventurous as you want with the hardware you pick, going with anything from crystal to faux antiques.
6. Use a Krink paint marker
Nice, cheerful paint color is a good way to make a tired old dresser look acceptable. You can go much further, though, getting a paint marker. Paint markers by companies like Krink use actual opaque paint on a felt tip product.
After you mark a pretty pattern on the front of your dresser with pencil flowers, tree branches, an animal, or anything else you can use the marker over the lines that you’ve drawn. You’ll have a beautiful, perfectly painted pattern outlined on your dresser in no time.
7. Decorating with wreath forms
Wreath forms are circles made of soft plywood that is used for all kinds of crafts. To decorate your dresser, pick up liquid nails and evenly space the forms on the front of your dresser. You don’t need to worry about where the forms go over drawer openings.
You can make cuts later. Once your forms are properly stuck in place, use a sharp knife to make the cuts you want and then sand any sharp edges. Then, you can paint the entire dresser a pure white, wreath forms and all. Your dresser will look like it was sculpted out of plastic.
8. Try a distressed antique look
An old, worn-out dresser may not look very good. When you paint over it and sand it to give it a distressed look, though, you’ll get a fashionably worn-out look.
There are a number of ways to try the distressed look. You can experiment.
9. Paint everything but the drawers
Two-tone paint-work on your dresser can freshen it up its look.
You can paint everything on the dresser in one color and do the drawers in a different one. A classy contrast is always a good idea — white and brown, black and silver, and so on.
10. You can repurpose your dresser
Sometimes, you don’t even need to do a lot to give your dresser a makeover you only need to repurpose it. When you use it as a buffet for the dining room or as a stand for your television, you’ll see it with new eyes, even if it is the same.
You don’t need to stop decorating the exterior of your dresser. You can update the insides in all kinds of creative ways, too. The patterned paper on the sides and the bottoms, for instance, can make for very attractive results.