Upcycled chest of drawers and bedside drawers

[JoeAzza]

As requested by @Tyro here is my latest upcycled project, one chest of drawers and one bedside drawers, sanded back and painted in satin black and satin varnished clear top.

  

Before shots below.

Materials

• Sandpaper, 40 grit, 80 grit, 120, grit and 240 grit, 400 grit
• Waterbased Satin paint, black - Haymes.
• Waterbased Satin varnish , clear, - Monocel.
• 12mm dowel to plug knob holes.
• Wood glue for timber dowel
• Wood putty 
• Masking tape

Tools

• 150mm orbital sander, 
• Finishing sander 1/4 sheet, great for doing the concave shaped timber,
• Lathe for polishing old brass knobs ( a power drill can be used instead)
• Philips head screwdriver for fitting knob screws.
• Small hand saw to repair and glue damaged timber on bedside drawers base ( a piece of timber was broken off , I had to make and a glue a replacement piece back in place).
• Paint brush - unipro Round Easy Cutter 18mm, ( Love this brush, minimal brush marks)

• 4 mm nap x 100mm roller

Steps

Step 1

Repair damaged bedside drawers, this had a broken piece of timber, bottom left corner, I had to make a replacement part,glued and shaped to match the rest of the molding.

Step 2

Sand both chest of drawers and bedside drawers, I fully sanded the tops of each unit back to bare wood, ready for clear coat finish the rest of the units were sanded back ready for painting., no undercoat was required.

Step 3

Cut, glue and sand 12mm timber dowel pieces to repair large holes in drawers, then redrill to suit knob mounting screws

Step 4

Paint 3 coats black satin paint I used a brush to place the paint onto the body of the units then used the roller to roll on the paint, ( hint - this will give a better flatter finish, do not over load the roller)

Very lightly sanded in between coats using 400grit sandpaper

Step 5

Clear coat top of both units, I did these using the same technique as the way I painted the black paint, very light sanding in between coats, using 400 grit sand paper

Step 6

I used the original drawer knobs, these were brass knobs, so I decided to polish and clear coat them, I think they came up well, I used my lathe to sand with 120 grit and 400 grit sand paper

Step 7

Job done.

Please excuse my try at styling @Tinker_Bell , I tried, maybe next time I will do better. 

[EricL]

Hello @JoeAzza 

Thank you so much for sharing this fantastic upcycling project. The finish on the cabinet is superb and the restoration of the handles are just amazing. Do you think it's possible to achieve the same finish if you attached the handles to a drill and sand it while it spins? 

Again, thanks for sharing such a wonderful project.

Eric

[JoeAzza]

Thank you @EricL , I think you could, you would have to clamp the drill down then cut the head of the screw that is the same size as the thread on the knob , it should work, just need a high speed for sanding smooth

[Tyro]

Hi @EricL 

I fully agree with you re the superb job @JoeAzza has done.  Thank you for the handy tip about letting a drill do all of the hard work - I'll be putting that one in the brain's filing cabinet for later 😁

Cheers 🤗

[Tyro]

Hi @JoeAzza 

As promised, I have turned green with envy from the so-excellent job you've done!  😂  And putting to good use the painters tape too ... it obviously works really well.

The units all look so fantastic - congratulations!  It looks as though you are a very  patient and careful worker.  👏  The only consolation I have is the sight of all those bits of toilet tissue on the top where you cut them shaving 🤣🤣

Thanks so much for posting them and providing your detailed process.  

Cheers and Gold Stars

🤗 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @JoeAzza 

Now these are sleek! Love the two tones you have used, the timber top showing through really offsets the black.

Another project to add to the list for bringing back older style cupboards...:) They really look like you have just bought them!

Dave