Baby Dresser

Ally and I decided it would be cool to try and find a "vintage" piece of furniture for the baby's dresser.  So one Saturday afternoon several weeks ago, we set out with plans to visit several thrift shops and goodwill stores in the area in hopes of finding something cool.  At our first stop, a goodwill on Santa Monica Blvd, we found what we deemed to be the perfect piece for baby's room.  A three drawer chest made by a local hollywood furniture company in the 1950's or 60's.  It was well made, the appropriate size, and had the right lines and look.  The only problem was that it was in pretty bad shape, err I mean, really bad shape.  Much worse than I would ideally want to work with.  It was missing entire pieces of the old veneer, had large dings in the wood, and someone had tried to glue something to the top at one point, leaving some pretty ugly scars.  But we decided that for $20 we'd give restoration a try.

It's a funny thing when you sit at a desk 60-70 hours a week and live in an apartment.  You find very little opportunity to do any manual labor.  Things like working in the yard, etc.  Ally thinks I'm crazy, but the thing I miss most about having a house is the opportunity to do some yard work or a home repair now and again.  I'm probably in the minority on this, but I find it incredibly relaxing to disengage my brain and work with my hands, and even more fulfilling when I get to engage my brain (a little) for a little physical labor.  Don't misunderstand, I didn't break much of a sweat, nor did it take much mental exertion to sand, pick some colors, and paint.  This really was a pretty simple task, but it was just what the doctor ordered.

The dresser did turn out to be more work than I initially thought due to the aforementioned defects.  I think if I had to do it again I would get something with a little less "character" to begin with.  But we are both pretty happy with the result and it fits in nicely to our nursery.  Before and after pictures below.