Lansdowne Life

Another great find: Mid-century dresser

by Erin Heaton

In addition to the finds I showed you earlier this week, I finally finally finally found a new dresser for Dan! I have been searching on and off for a few years, but until now, what little I found was wrong. Wrong size, wrong style, wrong price.

Poor Dan has been using a dinky, too-small dresser for too long. (I suspect it may be intended for a child.) I painted it a few years ago, but it’s laminate and particle board and I didn’t prep right. So now it’s all chippy and disgusting and not worth fixing because, really, it’s just a piece of junk.

Anyhow, I stumbled upon this solid wood mid-century (?) dresser at my favorite antique mall. I don’t know how old it is, but it’s in wonderful condition and doesn’t need any refinishing. But it gets better! The price? $98! (Well, $106 with tax.)

It’s six inches taller and seven inches wider than the old dresser. That doesn’t sound like a lot of extra storage space, but it is. Essentially, we gained about seven inches on the length of each drawer. (And an inch each on the height and depth.) Five drawers x seven inches = 35 more linear inches of drawer space! It’s the equivalent of an extra drawer.

I vaccumed the drawers and wiped everything down (as I do with all the finds I bring home). But before I put the drawers back in, I rubbed a bar of soap on the bottoms to make them slide easier. This actually works! I’ve seen that tip in a number of magazines over the years, but hadn’t had the opportunity to try it.

The knobs were already loose, and I thought it would be easier to wipe them down if I took them off. Eight out of 10 of them had dead spiders or webs hidden behind them. It was gross. (Sorry if that gives you something to be paranoid about.)

I’m so excited to be rid of the junky eyesore in our bedroom. Everytime I saw that chipping paint it reminded me of my mistakes! It’s not healthy to have things in your home that conjure up negative feelings like that. Replacing it with a quality piece (that is surely worth more than the price I paid) is icing on the cake.

Comments

  2. Corinne says

    What a find! I love it.
    And I am a little itchy thinking about the possible spiders living/dying in my dressers…ewww.

  3. Erin says

    Yeah, I’m glad I took off the pulls. The spiders and webs were in the hollow cavities like where the screws are, not in the part you grab. Who knows how long they were there. Maybe like 40 years! So gross.