Thrifty DIY Girl: The $3 Dresser that Needed Some Love

On a whim I stopped by the local thrift store and I found this gem.

It had been marked down several times and it was a 50% off furniture day. Score! It wasn't exactly what I was looking for but there was just something about it that I couldn't pass up. It was in desperate need of love and attention. I loaded it into my car and off we went! It took me about a week to figure out what I wanted to do to it and since it only cost me a few dollars I was totally up for some experimenting!

First, I had to get the peeling veneer off the top drawer. I don't have a heat gun so I placed a wet towel on the drawer and then used an iron to create some steam. I then used a putty knife to loosen up the veneer strips. What.a.hassle! It took me about an hour to get it all off and I may have ruined a towel in the process but that's our little secret.

I decided on a cigar lounge look and wanted a metallic silver. I mixed DecoArt Shimmering Silver Metallic paint, Americana Cottonball and Black Tie together a few times before I found the color I wanted.

As I got going I thought it needed some cool handle pulls. Since this handsome piece was going in my Lil' Man's room it was only appropriate to find mustache pulls (slightly a challenge to find). Of course I could not find any mustaches as a double pull so I had to fill two of the holes on each drawer. My handy Dad recommended that I use wood putty to fill. Easy!

Because I was feeling a little ~~crazy~~ crafty I thought I would go all out and try my hand at decoupage using Mod Podge. I used old maps to line the insides of the drawers. Check them out (it's the best part really).....