DIY Stripped Dresser

DIY Dresser

I found a vintage dresser that I wanted to strip and refinish. Read on to see how I did it!

Dresser Before

Here is the dresser before I got my hands on it. It was old and dingy but I wanted to make it feel even older!! So I decided to strip the stain off of it to give it a primitive feel.

Supplies

The supplies you will need for this project are as follows. Citristrip (it’s a less harsh paint and stain stripper), plastic wrap, paint brush, putty knife, gloves, mask, a rag and sand paper.

Start Stripping

Wipe down the dresser to get all the dirt and residue off. Grab your mask and gloves as well as your citristrip and brush. Pour some Citristrip on and start brushing it in, covering the entire surface.

Cover Surface

Cover the entire surface of the dresser you are wanting to strip.

Wrap in Plastic Wrap…Maybe

I hated the idea of covering this with plastic wrap, I hate plastic!! But I tried it and it seemed to work ok but if I were to do it over again I probably wouldn’t cover it. One, because of the plastic waste and two, because I didn’t feel like it worked super well. To each their own.

Uncover

Wait a few hours to a day and take the plastic wrap off. I waited a little too long and the citristrip had started to dry, making it more difficult to take off the dresser.

Scrape Off

Time to start scraping! Get your gear on again and your putty knife and start scraping the citristrip off. Scrape with the grain of the wood. I was hoping this would come off easier because of the wrapping I did, but it did not. If I were to do it over again I would paint the citristrip on, wait 5-7 hours and scrape it off. Wipe down the surface with a wet rag and then start sanding. I don‘t like perfection, so I sand the piece in random spots leaving some not as stripped as others so it feels really worn and primitive. Wipe the surface down after you are done sanding.