An Antique Dresser Turned Kitchen Island

Almost exactly two years ago, I did a very very similar piece to this one. You can see it here!  That last one I did on spec, but this one is custom for a client. The previous one was to date my most popular post ever. I'll be curious to see if this one gets equal attention.

      I picked this gorgeous antique oak dresser up from one of my favorite antique shops, Past to Present Collectibles on  Main Street in Niantic. The owner is a nice guy named Josh and he's always got cool stuff tucked away in his delightfully cluttered shop. Take my word for it, it's worth a visit.

     I knew as soon as I saw this dresser that it would make a perfect kitchen island. The two big drawers didn't work well, which was fine with me as I knew I'd be removing them and putting in shelves. It was the perfect size with great lines and loads of character. I added a pine top and pine shelves, painted the case in an antique white, distressed and dark waxed.
     
      One of my favorite parts of the job is discovering the secrets these antique pieces hold. They're like functional time capsules, collecting bits of information and small personal artifacts; a scrawled pencil note on the inside of a drawer, a mother of pearl button wedged in a drawer runner. In this case I found a wonderful stamped date, I'm guessing from the time of manufacture, on the backboard. It reads April 29, 1921. SO. COOL.

        Finally, a little tip for those of you refinishers who read the blog, if you have bleed through from an old dark varnish on a new light paint color, just put down a coat of oil based polyurethane, I like to apply with a sponge brush, let it dry fully, and then apply the rest of you paint coats like normal. It works like a charm!