Gifted a bureau for baby: needs some work

[englishteacha]

A friend gave us a bureau for our baby's room. It's real wood, but needs a bit of work. The finish is battered, and one drawer is a bit warped. If we can fix the warped drawer, I think I'll sand and paint it, fixing the dings/scratches with some wood filler. I can totally make it look great, but it would be up to DH to fix the drawer (I can't actually open it at the moment...).

Would you spend the time and money to fix a free bureau, or would you keep stalking Craigslist and the like for something that doesn't need work but is cheap?

 

[disneyhand]

I would spend the time and money if the warped part can be easily fixed first. There is nothing like a transformed piece of wood furniture. If you do this project, please take before and after photos to come back and share!

 

[MommaB]

I'd refurbish it for sure! But I love daydreaming over the before and afters on furniture blogs A real wood dresser is a great start

 

[englishteacha]

When we first got married, I refinished a beaten, battered college bureau into a beautiful piece. (I bought it from the local college, so it had been well loved, to say the least.) However, as I'm now pregnant, I can't use quite so many harsh chemicals this time around! I had to remove about 40 years of varnish, contact paper, and stickers from that one. If hubby can fix the drawer, then I think I'll repaint it after fixing the dings, dents, and loose pieces. It needs lots of love, so matching the wood filler with stain would be a HUGE pain. One side panel needs some major glueing/patching (the side panels are just luan, but the top and drawers are real wood.) We don't have a nursery yet and the urge to nest is driving me bonkers! If the drawer can't be fixed, I wonder if we can make that drawer space into a shelf. Hmm.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I would definitely try to fix the drawer! We bought a $20 Craigslist dresser for our (soon to be) baby girl's room - it had one cracked drawer and some damage to the side at floor level (it looks like a small dog chewed on the corner at some point). With some sanding, wood glue, and wood filler - and then 3 coats of paint and some new hardware, the dresser looks awesome!

Getting real wood furniture (as opposed to the particle board stuff that's hard to avoid today) is awesome because you can keep updating it as needed. It'll last forever!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

When we first got married, I refinished a beaten, battered college bureau into a beautiful piece. (I bought it from the local college, so it had been well loved, to say the least.) However, as I'm now pregnant, I can't use quite so many harsh chemicals this time around! I had to remove about 40 years of varnish, contact paper, and stickers from that one. If hubby can fix the drawer, then I think I'll repaint it after fixing the dings, dents, and loose pieces. It needs lots of love, so matching the wood filler with stain would be a HUGE pain. One side panel needs some major glueing/patching (the side panels are just luan, but the top and drawers are real wood.) We don't have a nursery yet and the urge to nest is driving me bonkers! If the drawer can't be fixed, I wonder if we can make that drawer space into a shelf. Hmm.

Just saw your update after I posted.

Definitely sand and repaint it. Do you have a power sander? We found that that was the quickest way to remove years of "abuse" from a piece. After that (and fixing up cracks, gaps, etc.), you can apply a good quality semi-gloss paint, and it'll look like new. I'm also a big fan of painting children's furniture with a good scrubbable paint, as opposed to really refinishing it. My toddler is already "experimenting" with crayons and markers, so being able to just give a piece of furniture a quick wipe to clean it is really a benefit! We have a sandstone-topped coffee table and I don't even want to think about what it's going to look like by the time the kids are done with it!

 

[englishteacha]

Hubby's going to try to find his sander for me. Such a good man. Of course, it's Maine in February, so I'll be sanding outside but gotta find a place inside to actually paint. I'm sure hubby won't mind giving up the living room for a few days...

We're embarking on a demolition/construction project soon-tearing off our old 1 car garage/barn and rebuilding with a 2 car garage and living space, so DH isn't too thrilled with me taking on any new projects at the moment! But as I keep telling him, I have to find something TO DO to get ready for baby. The waiting is just killing me!

 

[marthachick]

Just don't wait too long to do the work. DSis-I-L was expecting their first and due 2-29-12. DBro decided he needed to repaint the whole house inside. He got most of it done. Kind of was dragging his feet to finish. DNephew decided he wanted to come early. Sooooo, while DSis-I-L was in the hospital after baby was born, DBro had to rush home & clean up his mess, and get the house ready for new baby & mommy.

So plan to get everything done as soon as possible.

 

[englishteacha]

Update! I fixed the drawer all by myself! The runner on the bottom was mounted crooked, so I took it off, realigned it, and put it back. Then I noticed the bottom kickplate was not centered. So I knocked that off and realigned it. Couldn't find the nail set thing (so you can get a finish nail in all the way without denting the furniture), so that little bit of finish work will be done another day. Glued some loose luan on the sides and a small crack in a drawer front, which is now clamped and drying. It's sanded and ready to be patched and painted now! And I found primer, so I just need wood filler and good paint. Yay!

Edited: 2 hours of work while 28 weeks pregnant-not too shabby! I'm shopping online for bargain drawer pulls now!

 

[uk_wildcat]

There are some super cute ideas on Pinterest for refinishing furniture.

 

[ShariVT]

Some of my favorite nursery pieces where items I found and transformed.