This blog post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Thursday, June 11, 2020

Before and After Second-Hand Furniture Makeovers

Second-hand furniture gets restored, updated and transformed with paint and hardware!


Hey, hey!  

Lately, house projects have been few and far between, but I've still been keeping busy transforming and updating furniture.  Oddly enough, I find restoring and painting furniture super relaxing and thankfully, I've had plenty of pieces to keep me busy.  

Even though I haven't been documenting much of the transformation process, I still wanted to share a few recent furniture makeovers I've completed for my vintage booth at Sweet Clover Barn

Gray painted MCM dresser

- HELPFUL SOURCES FOR REPAIRING, PAINTING AND RESTORING FURNITURE - 

- Beginners Guide to Painting Furniture

- COMMON SUPPLIES USED TO MAKEOVER FURNITURE - 
(Affiliate links have been used)

- General Finishes Finishing Wax
- Screwdriver 

First up is this vintage buffet that I bought from an auction.   I made a few repairs, sanded, painted it in Fusion Mineral Paint Ash then sealed it with General Finishes Finishing Wax in satin.  

Antique cherry buffet before

painting and sanding antique buffet

painted antique buffet with original hardware
I love being able to keep original hardware and was glad the hardware from the buffet cleaned up well with a little soap and water.
dovetail drawers on painted buffet

gray buffett with original gold hardware

This next dresser was an awesome Facebook Marketplace find.  It needed very little work and was a super easy makeover.  It was painted in General Finishes Lamp Black then sealed with General Finishes Finishing Wax in satin.
secondhand mcm dresser before

black painted mcm dresser

dovetail drawers on mcm dresser

Black painted mcm dresser with gold hardware
I wasn't sure about this next dresser, but the price was right and I'm always up for a challenge.  It needed a bit of work, but was nothing a little wood putty, sanding, paint and new hardware couldn't fix. 
Dated MCM dresser before
There was a lot of sanding and repairs to this one, but I'm super happy with how it turned out.  I painted the dresser using Fusion Mineral Paint Casement then sealed the paint with Minwax waterbased poly in satin.

*** Read HERE for more on how to properly paint dark furniture white ***
Sanding mcm dresser

White and wood painted mcm dresser

white and wood painted mid century modern dresser
I was super happy to find this next dresser.  I rarely pass up a good quality MCM dresser and this one was a steal off Facebook Marketplace.
Low mcm dresser before


gray and wood mcm dresser
It got sanded, primed with Zinsser shellac primer, painted in General Finishes Reverent Gray then sealed with waterbased poly. 
Painted 9 drawer mcm dresser

vintage modern vintage booth with mcm dresser
This next MCM dresser was another Facebook Marketplace find, which got a similar two-tone makeover.

mid century modern bassett dresser before


white and wood painted mcm dresser
Painting furniture white is a little more time consuming, but two-tone white and wood furniture is my favorite color combination by far.
white and wood mcm dresser in vintage booth
It's not too often I stumble upon cool free stuff, so I definitely got lucky with this wood cubby.
Free wood cubby before
Obviously, it needed a bit of work, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed.  I cut down the top layer of cubbies using a jigsaw, cut and stained a new top using a scrap piece of wood I had in the garage, cut and stained trim pieces that were missing then attached everything using a nail gun.
rebuilding free wood cubby

Repairing vintage wood cubby

restored wood cubby

 Not too bad for a free piece, huh?   

Restored free wood cubby

Apparently, Facebook Marketplace has been the place to find furniture, because this last piece was also another Facebook Marketplace find.  
wood mcm dresser before

I painted this dresser Iron Ore then added my favorite top finger edge pulls to step it up a notch and give it a little extra masculine vibe. 
Dark gray and wood painted mcm dresser

Phew, that was a lot!  I may have been quiet on the blog front, but I've definitely still been busy updating, restoring and transforming furniture.  I hope in some small way these furniture makeovers inspire you to transform your own second-hand furniture finds.


Pin it for later
before and after second-hand furniture makeovers



shop our home
Click here to subscribe
      



Would you like to comment?

  1. Wow, these are amazing! Painting furniture is one DIY that I've never been able to get into, but this makes me want to give it a go again! Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved all of them. Thank you for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  3. All are awesome and full of character.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, they are all so so so good! I love the dark gray one!

    ReplyDelete