Curbside Dresser Makeover: How to Seal Raw Wood (without changing its color!)

Well, hello there and happy Friday! I am so happy that we have finally arrived at the weekend since I felt like this week was particularly long and stressful. We are taking advantage of the long weekend to go on our annual trip to the Great Wolf Lodge (as long as Lucas’ head cold doesn’t hop over to the rest of us…) and we are really looking forward to it.

Last week over on Instagram you may have caught a glimpse of my latest curbside treasure.

Someone probably put a lot of time in to making it a cute space themed dresser and it made me so sad to see it set out with the trash! I decided to rescue it and give it a new life.

Supplies Used:(Affiliate links may be provided for convenience. For more info, see my full disclosure here.)

I began by sanding down the drawers to their natural wood finish using my beloved sander.

Fun fact, I used to completely LOATHE sanding, and although it’s still not my favorite thing to do I don’t mind it quite as much since purchasing this new sander. It works wonders compared to the one that I was using before!

Once those were all sanded down, I set them aside and started working on the base. I first wanted to add some trim to the bottom to cover up that awkward empty space. I used my nail gun to attach some scrap 1×3 MDF and screen molding trim.

So…quick little PSA here haha. When nailing on trim, make sure that the nail length is appropriate for what you are nailing through. I wasn’t paying attention and was actually using nails that were a bit too long. You see how I was holding my hand behind everything? I ended up getting a nice puncture wound in one of my fingers–ouch!!

Once that was all attached, I filled the nail holes with wood putty and caulked the seams to make it nice and seamless. I then wiped the whole thing down with Simple Green and did some light sanding to prep it for paint.

I should have done a coat of primer first, but that little nail gun incident threw me off my groove a bit and I went straight for paint. It ended up working out alright because the previous paint had a very matte finish, so the new paint stuck to it very nicely.

I decided that I wanted to keep the drawers their natural color, but I still wanted to apply a protective topcoat. In previous experiences whenever I add polyacrylic to bare wood it tends to darken/yellow it which is always so disappointing! So I decided to try something new to see if I could keep that from happening.

I mixed up a small amount of white paint with water in a cup and applied 3 coats of whitewash to each one. For each coat, I didn’t let it sit long before using a rag to wipe it off.

After letting them dry for about an hour it was time for the true test–applying the polyacrylic.

As you can see, the wood had become quite white with the whitewashing, and after the polyacrylic went on it brought it back close to its natural tone. Totally genius and I am so happy that I have discoverd this neat little hack!

I almost forgot to mention, I realized that even though I used wood putty to fill in the hardware holes, they were still quite visible. Since I was determined to use pull bars, I decided to use some wood glue to attach some pine trim that I had on hand to cover them up. This is how it turned out.

I had intended to sell it originally, but I tried it out at the top of our stairs and was so happy with it that I’ve decided to keep it.

I put a 7.5-watt bulb in that lamp so that we can have a small amount of light up here during the night and it’s been really nice.

I am glad that I decided to stick with the pull bars rather than going with knobs and I think that the extra trim adds some fun character.

Did you spot the cute little olive tree sitting in the corner? It was a super simple DIY and I plan to share the details on that with you all next week! Thanks for swinging by today, have a great weekend 🙂

Linking up to these awesome parties!

(Affiliate links may be provided for convenience. For more info, see my full disclosure here.)

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