Let the Pooping of the Pants Commence

Well, Mom, we made it before you were in Depends but you might still drop a deuce when you see this transformation of the $20 dresser I bought at the beginning of the summer.

It only took three months. (I’m not being sarcastic here. This would normally take me at least three years to complete, but I’ve been on a supernatural multiplier  lately). I swear, half of that three months was spent removing the stupid veneer.

Then, I sanded it down with Scratchy, my electric sander, who has become a close second to my husband in my heart this summer (except for the days when #1 is more abrasive then #2 and they switch spots for a bit.) 

After it was smooth, it got two coats of black paint (chalkboard, but only because I’m cheap and had it on hand). 

Scratchy and I distressed it on the edges, in keeping with my “old and crusty” taste. 

Then I used some Grammy fabric and a tiny tension rod to make a little skirt for missing drawer #2. I stacked black matte board (also on hand - thanks, Nana!) inside the empty drawer space so it functions as a shelf with cute curtains.

Missing drawer #1 took a little longer to remedy. I was hoping to find baskets to fill in the space, but have I mentioned that I’m cheap? Plan B was to find and cover boxes, but there were none that fit, so I resorted to Plan C--make my own. I measured the drawer space, divided by four, subtracted a little for spacing (shoulda subtracted more--those suckers are tight!), then used cardboard from random trash to make an open tray-like box. Using a board as a straight edge, I cut the shape with a box cutter.

That's a dinosaur I drew to appease Max, who wanted to color Reed's super cool 3D cardboard dinosaur. Reed, while a generous big brother, is a bit too anal to tolerate with scribbles on his masterpiece. As you can see by the lack of coloring on the cardboard, my distraction was a total fail.

I hot glued the sides together.

Then, I bought some white burlap and sewed covers for the boxes. I used the box and my iron to mark where the seams needed to be.

This piece is the same size as the box.  I figured the fabric could stretch and it would make for a tighter fit. The sides are more than twice as "tall" so they will cover the outside and inside of the box by folding over the top edge.

I removed a little of the waste area to cut down on bulk and then trimmed to the corner. 

Then, I just folded and pinned the sides up and sewed it into a tall "box."

The edges folded over to cover the inside of the box. They got hot glued down eventually, but first I marked where I wanted my handles to be and took the cover back off.

Then, I watched the incredibly exciting instructional DVD that came with my sewing machine and learned how to sew a buttonhole. I won't show you pictures of my first attempt. Let's just say I should've practiced on a piece of scrap fabric. A thousand ripped-out stitches later, I had it figured out the right way. 

 For the handles, I used the curtain fabric from the other drawer to make little pulls. I folded the sides in, then folded the whole thing in half and stitched on top. 

The handles slipped through the buttonholes, a hole I poked in the cardboard, and a tear on the inside fabric. I wasn't about to sew more buttonholes than I had to.

I tied the handles to keep them in place, hot glued the fabric tightly to the inside, and cut a cardboard base to squash the whole thing down. I thought about covering the cardboard base with fabric, but I was feeling kinda lazy, so I didn't mess with it. 

Now I have all kinds of extra storage and a cute addition to my living room. Right now all those painstakingly-made drawers and the curtained shelf are empty and the other compartments are just shoved with a random assortment of stuff I was probably just trying to hide from company. I have big plans to re-organize my Sunday school/regular school/officey/desky stuff. Ask me about it in about three months. Or years. 

Linked to Kammy's Korner Trash 2 Treasure.