Heather Cobbs created this way cool dresser for her son. She kindly shared the instructions on how-to decorate the dresser with our readers.Heather: This project was originally inspired by a tutorial by jcaroline creative . I needed a dresser for my son's room, and was intrigued by the idea of taking a thrift store find and recovering drawer fronts with custom fabric. The paper collage was my modification for fabric, because I wanted to keep the transportation theme going.
First, find a dresser or piece that suits your needs. This was a Craigslist find for $40, a bit more than I like to spend, but the narrow depth (about 30") and flat fronts were ideal. Second, strip off old hardware and sand, sand, sand. Pick a paint color, tape your dresser sides, back, etc., and have at it. I didn't paint the whole front face of the drawers, just about 2" on all sides. For dark colors, expect to do 3 coats, plus a top coat if you want it to look really good. One quart of semi-gloss paint is plenty for this project ($12-14).
Next, search for books with images you like and cut them out. This can be a bit time-consuming. I used several of my son's favorites from our personal library, plus some from thrift store finds, and a couple of full-price purchases to finish it off. I would say it took about 8-10 books ($15) to finish covering the drawers--more than I initially thought. The cool road signs were from a pop-up book I thrifted, and are cardboard thickness, which took MANY MORE coats of Mod Podge to cover than other thin paper images. Keep this in mind when you're picking pictures. Thin is easier. After the drawers are edged and dried, lay them out as they would appear in the dresser frame and do a mock lay out with your pics. A big table is ideal for this. You'll be able to see if you have enough images before you start gluing.
Because of the thickness of some of my images, I would estimate I did 5-6 coats over as many days. I think 4 coats for regular paper images would be plenty. Contrary to the bottle's instructions, I did not sand my Mod Podge surface. I tried on one, and it made no appreciable difference, so I bagged it. If you look really close, you can see tiny bubbles in the finish, but I NEVER see them, and neither does my 3 year-old. I topped off my surfaces (dresser frame included) with a clear water-based polycrylic finish (Minwax), and it has withstood MUCH abuse from tiny metal cars and trucks. However, it is not the most environmentally friendly finish, so there may be room for improvement here. I recommend letting your finished work off-gas in the basement for a week or so before you put it in your kid's room. Also, wear a mask or work near an open window when you use it because the fumes will make you silly. Additionally, you may find there is a build-up of Mod Podge on the inside edges of your dresser. You can use a detail sander for this, or you can forgetaboutit. Honestly, I never notice. It's up to you to decide how exacting to be on the tiny details.
I bought a value pack (12, I think) of brushed nickel handles at Lowe's for $20. I wanted something thin that would not detract from the collage. Overall, the project cost about $100:$40 dresser
$15 books for collage
$12 Behr semi-gloss paint
$14 Mod Podge (I needed 2 bottles due to the thickness of my images)
$20 handles
$7 Minwax polycrylic water-based finish
Keep in mind this is a long project, especially if you've got kiddos and interruptions. But the possibilities are endless, and you'll have a fabulous, one-of-a-kind piece when you're finished!
Thanks Heather for great instructions!
