Many lessons were learned and many hours logged bringing this beauty back to life!
I came across this Sligh dresser at a garage sale last summer and at first glance, it checked all my "boxes" for a good furniture find. The drawers pulled well and had the required dove tail construction, so I payed the seller and started to take the drawers out to load the frame into my van. That's when I realized I was in for more work than I had bargained!
Although the front of the drawers were fine, the backs where held together by a gazillion little finishing nails as most of the dove tail "pins and tails" had broken away. Instead of sturdy rectangular boxes in my hands, the drawers were lilting at odd angles on the brink of collapse! In addition, I could tell the inside frame was swaying a bit and would need some rebuilding as well.
After rebuilding the interlocking pins and tails with plastic wood and reglueing the large drawers back together (the two small ones were fine), I took the back off the frame and reinforced it with a couple of braces. Finally, I was able to get to the fun stuff! I painted two coats of Behr Cathedral Blue, top coated with GF High Performance Top Coat, then did a strie dry brush finish with Lamp Black and clear glaze. I then finished off with several coats of HPTC in satin finish.
It was a very happy ending to a not-so-happy beginning! And the moral of this story? Be sure to take those drawers out and give them a thorough once over before pulling out the cash at a garage sale!
