Guys, Frankie the Fliphouse is starting to look downright sexy as he gets cleaned up. It's kind of exciting! I can't WAIT to show you the final reveal.... next week (sorry). One thing that really makes the kitchen, though, is the dresser-turned-island. It may have elicited a happy dance from me. I hope whoever buys the house falls in love with this piece too, otherwise, I'm taking it with me!
I found this dresser at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $62.50 (50%off!) and immediately knew this was the piece I had been looking for. It was the right height and scale, AND as a bonus, it was already on wheels!
I found these date stamps on the bottom of one of the drawers.
Luckily the dresser was in stellar shape for being 98 years old! There were only 3 prep steps that I needed to do before painting. First, I used a heat gun and scraper to rid the back of the cracked veneer.
After the old veneer was gone, (prep step 2) I patched the blemishes and sanded. The last prep step was removing the top. Luckily it wasn't glued down, so I was able to remove a few screws I could reach and brute force the top off in no time. Strong like bull.
The fun part was painting, putting on new hardware and attaching the butcher block top.
Drum roll please!!! No? ok, well, here's what she's looking like today:
Hubba hubba, amIright?
I actually ended up using the darker/brighter color that I polled you guys about. Once I changed the offensively colored CFLs in the house for more true-color bulbs it was the exact color I was hoping for.
I added a towel bar for added functionality. Plus it gives me the ability to style it with a cute little hand towel (which, since I'm styling a house for sale, not to use..... this cute little towel, may actually be a pillow case. sshhhhh, don't tell).
I'll break it down for you:
- Dresser: $62.50
- Butcher block from IKEA: $129
- 2 paint "samples" matched to Benjamin Moore Medici Malachite: $6
- Paint finishing wax (optional): $10
- Knobs: $0! (I raided my own knob collection)
- Towel bar: $5
- TOTAL: $212.50 (not including tax)
If I had used cabinets for an island, the price would have EASILY been double, most likely triple. For a piece that takes the kitchen from nice to WOW, it's totally worth it!