Upcycled Dresser Into Office Storage

One day I’ll have all the boxes and crates in our home unpacked and all the things in their proper place (in some cases, that place will be the trash can).

That day, however, is not today. That day will probably come just in time for us to pack up and move again.

But, I am one step closer today, thanks to my new upcycled and repurposed dresser.

The biggest culprit of all those unpacked boxes is in my office (which, technically, is supposed to be a dining room but since we don’t really need a dining room right now, I’m repurposing it).

Currently, it looks more like a storage/junk room with boxes as far as the eye can see. I haven’t made much progress in there since we moved because I don’t have much in the way of storage. That’ll change with the addition of this dresser, which will now serve as storage for my various crafting and DIY supplies.

Finding the Project

I sourced this project from a local Habitat ReStore, one of my favorite places to find furniture to upcycle. I wanted something that had plenty of drawer space and didn’t need any major repairs. This dresser fit the bill nicely and only cost me around $40.

What it didn’t fit, however, was my car.

I overestimated the size of my backseat and ended up being a few inches shy of actually being able to haul my find home.

Luckily, I was able to call in reinforcements.

Baby brother brought his pickup truck to the rescue and saved the day (Have I mentioned lately that I’m so glad I live closer to my family now?).

After that, it was just a matter of painting, changing the hardware, and adding a little height.

Simple Paint Process

Initially, I planned to pick up some paint and primer at Lowe’s. But then, I found this RePurpose acrylic paint at Hobby Lobby.

Similar to chalk paint, this stuff can be used on almost any surface without priming or sanding. And, since the dresser was covered in laminate and I’m a big fan of consolidating steps, I thought it was worth a shot.

I would say it worked pretty well, though it did require 3-4 coats of paint to fully cover the dresser. The darker colors may require less, but I had a few places where the flower motif on the drawers kept showing through the white.

However, there was plenty of paint in one can to completely coat the dresser multiple times and it was pretty inexpensive.

Definitely a product I would use again.

Modern Hardware Inspo

For my office design, I decided to switch things up a bit from my normal galvanized metal and rustic wood theme and go with a more modern style.

I’ve been obsessed with rose gold/copper metal tones lately and knew I wanted to incorporate it into the design for my office.

The timing for this project worked out well and happened to fall during a week that Hobby Lobby had hardware on sale. (A tip for those that don’t already know: Hobby Lobby cycles through sale categories. So, if you’re shopping for something specific like hardware and it’s not on sale, check back the next week and it probably will be).

I snagged these rose gold/copper drawer pulls and knobs at 50% off and love how they look with the white paint.

I also picked up four 9” hairpin table legs. They only have them in black but I happened to have a can of rose gold spray paint handy to make them fit the theme.

The dresser was long but fairly low to the ground (possibly meant to be a children’s dresser). Adding the table legs gave the dresser some necessary height and a more modern feel.

From Old-Fashioned to High Style

In terms of difficulty, this project wasn’t very difficult at all.

For the most part, the only tools I needed were a paint roller, a screwdriver, and a drill.

I did have to pull out a hand saw to remove part of the bottom trim. The back and front pieces were attached with screws and came off easily. The side trim was glued on heavily. Since I didn’t want to risk damaging the rest of the dresser, sawing that part of the trim off made the most sense (and, as a bonus, it made for a nice arm workout).

I’ve got a few little fun décor projects planned to add some pizzazz to the office space but the next big project on the list is a desk.

I haven’t fully decided if I want to go with another upcycle project for this one or give building one a shot, but I need to make up my mind soon.

Because I desperately need a space to write that doesn’t comprise my couch and coffee table.

Also, it would be great to have a writing space where the dogs can’t climb all over me.