I heart Craig's List... and dressers

Sometime last summer, on a whim, I decided to browse Craig's List for some dressers to refinish and use around the house. I hit the jackpot when I found one seller who was having a moving sale and getting rid of three wooden dressers for $20 each. I checked with Brian and then made arrangements to drive out to their house and get them. I'm so glad Brian came with me, because these people could have been on the show "Hoarders: Buried Alive!" Their house was so gross. I'm pretty sure that they could have killed me, chopped me up, and hidden my body parts in one of their many dressers and no one would have ever found me. But I digress...

I forgot to take before pictures of all three dressers, but this is the last one that I finished. They all looked very similar. These people really enjoyed the "stenciled vines over white-washed wood" look. I wish I had taken a picture before I took the hardware off... it was pretty awesome. No offense to anyone who enjoys white washing, stencils, and gaudy gold plated hardware, but these babies were in serious need of some TLC.

I wanted a place to put some baskets in this one, so we tossed two of the drawers that were in bad shape, and Brian built me some shelves. He's so handy.

Here is the dresser above, all finished. Confession: I don't really like it. The two toned look that I envisioned did not quite materialize like I hoped and it reminds me of something that belongs in the 80's. It's going to get re-painted at some point in the very near future, but most likely post-baby. I love the baskets that Brian picked out for me to put in it, and it has lots of great storage. Right now it's empty, but I'm sure it won't stay that way for long.

This one I finished second. I really like the chocolate brown color (which I happily nailed on the first try). The red knobs are from Hobby Lobby (when home decor stuff was 50% off). They look like chubby flowers and they are fabulous!

This dresser lives in the hall between the kids' rooms. I originally thought I was going to keep linens in it, but with another baby on the way and closet and dresser space running a bit short, I'm thinking it might be best used for #3's clothes. :)
This one was the first one I finished, and it's still my favorite. We took the top drawer out and Brian (aka Bob the builder) used some plywood and a small piece of moulding to turn it into a little shelf. It took two tries to get the green right, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I'm also in love with the cream version of the flowery Hobby Lobby knobs.

Here she is at home in our entry way. She currently holds sewing supplies, scrapbook pages that I'm working on, mailing/packing supplies, and misc gifts/surprises that I can pull out to reward the kids or before a last minute birthday party.

So, for about $100 total (when you figure in paint and new hardware), I have three pieces of furniture custom finished to compliment our decor and hide our stuff. I love the idea of repurposed dressers all over the house and not just in the bedrooms.