A Junk Dresser Makeover

With 2 1/2 days off this weekend, I had 2 goals in mind: decorate for fall and

 

get rid of this dresser. It has been junkin' up my porch for longer than I want to admit. When I say junkin' - this time it wasn't in a good way. See it all started last spring when I had an idea to plant flowers in a chest of drawers. I even found an old one at a garage sale for $5.00. Well my husband and his mom said it was in too good of shape to let it sit outside and ruin in the weather. I agreed with them and now its in our living room, perfectly chippy and vintagey.

 

Well a co-worker moved to a new house and this dresser was left in the garage and she said come and get it. We did, although it was in much worse condition than what we were expecting. I came up with an idea to create a vignette / mantle out of the dresser with rusty tin and barn wood. We found our supplies and then my husband had a motorcycle wreck and things went south from there. It hasn't been touched since.

So this week I decided it must go - I was sick of looking at it. I would salvage the handles and scrap the rest of the dresser. So this morning, I set about to clean up the porch and decorate for fall. Since the tin we had found for the project had been layed on top of the dresser, it hadn't deteriorated as much as I figured. Underneath the cheap laminate exterior was good lumber.

 

So as you can see, we used that old barn tin and created a fall vignette on the porch and the dresser is still here!

 

I literally slapped on some white primer and we nailed a piece of tin to the top of the dresser to shield it from rain. Two pieces of tin created a backdrop and then I went to decorating. I moved plants and junk from around the yard to create a little harvest scene. I can't wait to get some fresh pumpkins and gourds to nestle among the rustic items.

 Yes, that is a rusted coffee can used as a pedestal for my chicken feeder planter! As soon as I can find some pretty fall flowers, I plan to update the planter with pansies, kale and the such. I'm also tickled with the outdoor storage area. All the extra laterns and tiki fuel can be hid in the drawers. The grill tools are in one drawer and there's room to store chair cushions for the winter.

 

 At this point, I have spent zero dollars on the project - everything had been reused and recycled and I don't have to worry about burning a dresser. Granted the dresser is not in the grandest of condition, but it has held up over a year now and I like its shabby style. Even if it only last another year, I haven't lost anything. Now it's good junk and I'm happy with how it turned out.