I Am So Proud of Myself

I am so proud of myself for this find! If you have read a couple of my previous posts, you know that I am transferring apartments, I have big plans for decorating what will be my bedroom because I am such a dreamer.

My plans change faster then I can actually come up with new ones, but they remain basically similar. Although I don't have pictures yet, I will take some tomorrow to post and will just explain in detail right now.

This is nowhere near to scale, it is just a rough outline of what the room is like. It is on the smaller end, but it is big enough for my honking pieces of furniture, so it works.

Anyways, I first wanted to remove the closet doors and hang fabric doors, then I decided to remove the shelving in the closet so that my giant dresser (see picture below) could go in it in order to conserve space out in the open. I tweaked the idea again to removing the mirror, which is detachable, hiding it behind the dresser, putting the dresser in the closet, leaving the shelving unit, and hanging fabric doors. I still haven't made a final decision, so my mind is bound to change several more times before paint even goes on the walls.

Please ignore the mess, I am in the middle of packing, so things go where there is room for them while piles of boxes lay around only moved when I need to take pictures of the floor. Needless to say, the top of my dresser is far worse now that it has been a week since I took this picture.

I forgot where I was going with this post... oh, I remember now! After I decided that I will most likely, probably, maybe put my giant dresser in the closet, I thought that I would still like to have a dresser out in the open, if not to put things in, I would surely need it to put stuff on top of it! It would definitely have to be an upright chest though. The only problem with this is that my current dresser is a very, very old heirloom that belonged to my great-grandmother, so it would be literally impossible to match it.

I decided that I would just have to find something that I like and re-purpose it to match my stuff (desk, decor) instead of matching it to this one dresser.

I did literally 20 minutes of research at stores online like Target, Pottery Barn, K-Mart, and even Wal-Mart before I decided that furniture is way too expensive especially when (for the exception of most PB products) most of it is made from cheap-o fake wood.

So, what would anyone else do in this situation? Of course! Hit Craigslist.

I searched for no more than five minutes when I found this chest that was posted on September 27th.

(Picture by current owner)

It was priced at $40, which is a lot better then the crap-furniture I was finding online for $300-$1000. The ad was "old", so I immediately rushed to e-mail the owner and see if it was still available. Luck must have been on my side:

"Jennifer,
yes, I do still have it.  We live [...] beyond the [...] border.  I was getting ready to relist it.
Barb"

Can you say faint? It is a four drawer white dresser measuring 33" W x 17" D x 42" H. I am not a fan of the giant... thing in the middle of the top drawer, but what can I do about it? If the finish is still if great condition, I will leave it as is and just change minor details like the painted detailing and the hardware (if possible). If the finish is not decent, is it okay to just sand down the dresser and prime it/spray paint it? I have never dealt with a shiny (gloss-coated?) piece of furniture.

I won't be picking up this dresser for up to two or three weeks, so I am asking for your guys' guidance now! Do you have any suggestions on how to re-purpose it/what to do with it?

I asked the seller if she happened to have any up close pictures of the front and top of the dresser, so I can't wait to see those! I am so proud of myself for finding this at a bargain price!

See ya!