Transform Your Furniture Archives - Page 10 of 15

A few months ago, I bought a fabulous dresser at our local Salvation Army. Since then, it has sat in my garage, waiting for it’s turn in the redo queue.

This week, it was its turn for a new life. I pulled out the drawers to begin wiping them down and was almost knocked over by the smell. You know – “the” smell. That thrift store smell. That dusty, musty, old combination of aromas that’s both delightful (to the avid thrifter) and scary (to the rest of the world).

So, what do you do if you have a wooden piece, such as a dresser, that has that “smell?” I have experimented with a few different options, and perhaps one of them will work for you.

Sunshine – After wiping down my piece to get off the majority of the dust and the crud, I like to sun it. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways, and direct sunshine often goes a long way in getting rid of the thrift store odor. I generally lay out a painting tarp to protect the wood from any moisture in the grass and leave it there for as long as possible. Separate the drawers from the dresser and turn the dresser on its back so that the sun reaches the inside. I was inpatient with this piece and only left it out for an afternoon, but a few days would have been ideal.

Baking Soda – Another old trick is putting baking soda inside the piece to absorb the odors, just as you would your refrigerator and freezer. I pour a small bowl full of baking soda and put it in each closed drawer. As with the sunshine, the longer you leave it inside the drawers, the better. Again, I’m incredibly impatient, so I only left the baking soda in the drawers overnight.

Pine Sol – The last trick I like to use is cleaning the inside of the piece with Pine Sol. I mix 2 gallons of water with 1/2 cup of Pine Sol and scrub the inside of the drawers and the dresser with a nylon bristled brush. Don’t use too much of the water solution, because you don’t want the wood to get too wet. Once you have it scrubbed down, stick it back out in the sun to dry.

Now, my piece is almost unsmelly (is that a word?). By the time I finish painting it and putting in drawer liners, we should be good to go.

I’ve heard of a few other tricks, such as using fresh coffee grounds in the same way as I used baking soda or placing dryer sheets in the drawers. My concern is that these would only mask the thrift store smell instead of actually getting rid of it. Thoughts?

What techniques do you use to get odors out of thrift store furniture? Please share!

Once upon a time, there was a well-loved dresser who was destined for a new home. My friend had gotten it from her mother, who had purchased it second hand. The dresser was headed to a thrift store, but my friend asked if I would like it instead to practice some different refinishing techniques. But, of course I would!

Once I had the dresser in my garage, I realized that she would be a beaut if my husband and I tightened it up. Experiment? No way! This practice piece was going to find a new home in my master bedroom redo.

I sanded, and sanded, and sanded. There were probably 3 different shades of paint, a few coats of primer, and the original varnish. I spent about three days over different weekends trying to get down to the bare wood, since the paint was in such bad condition. Luckily, I had a sweet little helper.

The paint eventually began peeling off in sheets – which was great for me, but is a testament as to why it’s so important to do the grunt work to properly prepare any furniture piece you are refinishing – you don’t want that to be YOUR hard work peeling off! Once it began peeling, I was able to scrape it with a paint scraper and then run my sander over it with a medium grade sandpaper.

Using the techniques detailed in Mandie’s fantastic e-books on refinishing furniture, I primed and painted the dresser in (Behr paint tinted to) the Sherwin-Williams Decisive Yellow I previously shared with you as part of my inspiration.

I did try to use the Behr Ultra Plus paint and primer in one, but I had horrible results with it on bare wood. I have heard great things about it, but after three coats, the wood was still sucking up the paint. I would try it again on walls or previously painted wood, but never again on completely bare wood. After priming it with Kilz and painting it with regular Behr paint, I couldn’t believe the difference in the results.

After the yellow paint was dry, I glazed it with Ralph Lauren glaze tinted to RL Black Silk. This was my first attempt in glazing, and it went pretty well. Again, I used Mandie’s glazing techniques from her e-book and also a little try and error myself. As with any new technique, you should practice on a piece of wood before you work on your own piece. I was a little heavy handed because I wanted it to look more “urban” and less “French-y”, but I’m very happy with the results.

The last step was to add pulls to my dresser. I bought an assortment of vintage pulls off of Etsy, cleaned of the tarnish with steel wool, and spray painted them flat black. I love that every pull is different, and I have named her Miss Matched.

Sure, she’s the only part of my master bedroom redo actually completed, but you have to start somewhere!

And, now for a bunch of photos of my new beauty (which I know will drive my friend Emily crazy):

I would marry Miss Matched if I wasn’t already married. Plus, I guess if I was married to a dresser, my first born wouldn’t be that darn cute.

P.S. I am an affiliate for Mandie’s e-books, so I get a couple of bucks when you buy one from my link. In turn, I use those few bucks to buy more paint and glue sticks. It’s a vicious cycle, but someone has to do it!

P.P.S. I linked this post up to Gina’s Transformation Thursday party over at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

Cleaning Smelly Thrift Store Furniture

Mastering the Master Bedroom {the Miss Matched Dresser}