DIY Upcycled Drawers for Baby

My husband was going to get rid of this little chest of drawers. I could see they had the potential to be.. better. So I claimed them. A coat of paint and some new knobs is about all I needed, and as we have baby #2 on the way they’d be perfect to use in the nursery.

I gave the drawers a clean and sanded them a little before painting. I also attempted to unscrew the remaining knobs but they were stuck, so a big whack with a mallet and they flew off quite easily and slightly dangerously.

I’d decided to give chalk paint a go which can be painted straight onto the drawers with only one coat, then easiyl sanded back to give a rustic look.

I bought Rust-oleum Chalked ultra matt paint for about $38 a tin which as enough to paint these drawers with plenty left over for another project or 3. I chose a light green tint base called ‘sage’ to go into baby’s nursery.

The paint went on beautifully and covered all the scuff marks on the drawers. I added a second coat to help smooth out my brush strokes, not that there were many but I did use cheap brushes so it wasn’t the greatest paint job in the world. Still, it turned out just fine.

Chalk paint is quick drying, so I didn’t have to wait too long before painting the pieces again. I only painted the front of the drawers and came up with an idea to paint a pattern on the sides.

It was super easy to clean up any edges, the dried paint was a breeze to sand off.

For the patterned sides I thought it would be really easy to paint stripes by sticking down strips of masking tape. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but once I started I soon realised it was quite a time consuing task. I think it was worth it – but if you have the choice I suggest you use thicker tape.

I peeled off the tape in lots of two to make a stencil for thick stripes on the drawers.

I was going to paint the sides white first but that meant getting more paint.. so I left the colour of the wood to come through instead. Actually I think it’s just chipboard.

This is my 3 year old trying to help. Naw! Nice try buddy.

The fun part.. taking off the masking tape to reveal my mad stripes! Yeah it took a while, but was definitely worth it. I really liked the way they turned out.

Then.. after some further research on this awesome paint I found out I needed to seal it with a protective clear coat. Oops. It wasn’t hard to get some, but there goes another $38. Suddenly my cheap paint job just doubled in price. Ah well, at least there’s plenty of left overs which I know will come in handy in the long run.

I used Rust-oleum Chalked protective top coat in Matt Clear.

Finally once the top coat had dried I roughly sanded all the edges. This can be done as much or as little as you like.

Then for the finishing touch I replaced the knobs. Holy cow there is so much to choose from out there but in the end I opted for these antique looking bronze pulls that I found on ebay for a few dollars each.

Big Brother Oscar helping me put baby’s clothes away.. warm fuzzy feels!

Ta da!

The break down..

Drawers – Free

Clalk Paint – $38

Matt Clear Top Coat – $38

Brushes – Pack of 3 for $10

Masking Tape – $2

Total: $88

This project did end up costing me more than I’d planned, but on the upside I do still have plenty of left over paint to use on something else and we were able to turn some old trash into treasure!