DIY chest drawer upcycle

I had been looking for chest drawers for The Child’s room for a while. I didn’t want it to be a big investment, and with all the lockdowns, getting to IKEA was a bit of an issue, so I had no choice but to wait until something decent would turn up locally on FB marketplace. And sooner or later, it did, of course.

It was this chest drawer made of dark brown wood, rather traditional style. It wasn’t overly ugly, and it was very cheap so I just jumped on it, hoping I can upcycle it. The quality of it seemed to be good, but it was only when I got it home and had a chance to inspect properly that I realised the dark wood is actually vinyl with a pretty convincing wood pattern. Not that it makes much difference, but I find the vinyl with convincing patterns kind of funny, and I was also a little nervous that painting vinyl will not be possible.

Anyway, first thing next morning, I was in my local hardware store, buying paint, as you do. I got Zinsser primer and the very same Fleetwood Shadow Grey I used for the feature wall in this room, but instead of matt I got it in sheen.

I took off the knobs, washed the drawers, and then applied two coats of primer. I gave it a full day to dry, though I don’t think you need to wait that long.

Next, I applied two more coats of the paint. There are plenty of colourful toys and her clothes are also displayed on an open clothes rack, so I painted the drawers to match the accent wall.

I ordered gold hairpin legs on amazon and, since I still can’t operate a drill, I manually screwed them in with a screwdriver. It took some puffing and quiet swearing, but I got it done in no time. I had also ordered matching gold knobs, and they are really cute, I will definitely used them somewhere, but in the meantime I had had a chance to visit Homesense where I picked up really pretty wood/gold leaf in resin drawer knobs that were even nicer and more unique than the ones I had ordered on Amazon.

And there you do, drawers are done, I’m pretty delighted with myself and planning my next upcycling project already!