Today I'm sharing a furniture makeover with sentimental value as it's a piece of furniture my parent's purchased shortly after they married in the late 50s. If they could see it now, I hope they would approve of their vintage dresser being turned into a DIY faux apothecary dresser.

The inspiration for turning this dresser into an apothecary cabinet came from the grooves in the center of the large drawers that reminded me of small apothecary drawers. The six-drawer vintage dresser may look like it now has fifteen small apothecary drawers but in reality, it only has two.

It is Furniture Fixer Upper Day where six talented furniture painting friends come together once a month to breath new life into an old piece of furniture. You can find links to the other five makeovers at the bottom of this post. Last month I transformed a golden oak Pedestal Console Table with a French Chatellerault furniture transfer.

DIY Faux Apothecary Dresser

By painting the outside of the 50s dresser white and adding legs, it retains its mid-century modern charm. No longer functional as a dresser, it would make a lovely media cabinet, dining sideboard, or home office credenza.

I'm hoping we can keep this dresser in the family like we did with the matching tallboy dresser that was converted it into a Faux Secretary Desk. With both pieces of their original bedroom set modified, my parents either rolled over in their graves or thought, "well look at that". Hopefully the later.

The drawers were stained and a little worse for wear so they got a pop of sage green both inside and out. They were also lined with striped wrapping paper set loosely in place.

Originally this Canadian made vintage dresser by Victoriaville Furniture Ltd. out of Quebec had a blonde Labrador Sand finish. After my parents gifted it to us for our daughter's room we refinished it with a white pickling stain. I don't know what we were thinking when we added all those round knobs!

After our daughter left the nest the dresser was converted into an office credenza but more about that mess later on in the post.

Once that incarnation was no longer useful, we moved it into the basement workshop where sadly it was used and abused as a worktable.

When we reorganized the room, (catch the basement workshop tour here) it no longer accommodated the dresser. Taking up valuable floor space, I'm thrilled to finally have the dresser outta there.

With a lot of elbow grease and help from Mr. Frugalista, we were able to breath new life into the neglected but well-built dresser and this is what it looks like now.

Big difference, right? The surprise waiting inside happens when you go to pull out a middle or bottom drawer and discover it's actually a swingout door to a pretty painted cupboard.

Instructions for turning a vintage dresser into a faux apothecary dresser

Towards the bottom of this post, I've included a supply list of products I used or recommend for this furniture makeover. They contain affiliate links and at no cost to you, we receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

This furniture makeover is all about using what I had on hand and a good example of how you can mix and match different product brands as long as they work together. Mine are all waterbased products.

Prepping the apothecary dresser for paint

The first order of business is to strip the pickling stain and all the paint splatters with EZ Strip, a low VOC water-soluble paint stripper that can safely be used indoors. Because I planned on leaving it to sit 1-2 hours, I kept it wet by covering with plastic.

It took two applications and the finish came off easily with a scraper. The remaining bits were removed with a 220-grit sanding pad and mouse sander.

The dresser is mahogany and guaranteed to cause the tannins in the wood to bleed through the paint, especially considering I'm painting it white. I brushed one coat of stain-blocking primer and that did the trick.

Paint the apothecary dresser exterior

Now that the dresser is primed and ready for paint, I brushed three coats of Behr Chalk Paint in the color Tin White with my favorite paintbrush. I prefer working with a damp brush because it helps move the paint better. I spray it using this handy water misting spray bottle before dipping it into the paint.

I lightly sanded between coats with 220-grit sandpaper for a smooth as butter finish and waited two hours between coats. 

Turning the drawer fronts into faux apothecary cubbies

As I mentioned earlier, the inspiration for turning this piece into an apothecary dresser came from the grooves in the center of the large drawers. We replicated the grooves by adding one more to each drawer front.

To do this Mr. Frugalista set the table saw to the same depth as the original groove and ran the drawer fronts through the saw blade. Voila, the look of fifteen apothecary drawers.

Staining the faux apothecary drawer fronts

The drawer fronts are stained with two coats of waterbased gel stain in the color Tobacco Road and lighted sanded with 220-grit sandpaper between coats. I apply the stain with a damp chip brush and wipe it over the wood with a lint-free shop towel.

Once the stain dried overnight, I deepened the color by brushing dark wax over the stain with a round wax brush. You can see the difference between the stain only (after just one coat) and the stain and wax combo in the photo below.

The real reason we turned the bottom four drawers into a cupboard

Sadly because of the former credenza modification, the interior of the dresser was butchered, rendering the bottom four drawers impossible to function as such again. Hence the reason for turning the bottom of the dresser into cupboards.

In that credenza modification, we had joined two sets of drawers into deep drawers for hanging file folders. You can get an idea of the mess it made of the dresser interior and the drawers in the photo below.

Modified dresser to accommodate two drawers and cupboards

In order to put this dresser back together again, we moved the drawer divider trim towards the bottom over to the top. We also moved the one remaining drawer slider so now the two intact drawers that survived are now at the top of the dresser (pictured below).

To turn the bottom portion of the dresser into cupboards Mr. Frugalista added a base and center divider with smooth 1/4-inch thick hardboard (pictured below). He attached it in the center by screwing into the center faceplate and L-brackets at the top towards the back. 

Once that was done I painted the cupboards with two coats of Rustoleum Chalked Ultra Matte Paint in the color Sensible Sage. The drawers were a little worse for wear so I also painted them the same color.

Modifications to the drawer fronts to be turned into doors 

After the four damaged drawers were dismantled and the drawer trim removed from the dresser, they are joined together to make cabinet doors.

To do this a piece of 1/4-inch thick hardboard is cut to size about an inch shorter on the sides so the doors close tight against the front of the dresser.

Next, one side of the hardboard is painted the same sage green as the interior cupboards. After the paint dried the drawer fronts and trim pieces are glued onto the unpainted side of the hardboard with construction adhesive and set to dry overnight (pictured below).

In order to have clearance for the extended edge on the doors, we had to use fully concealed 4-Way 175° hinges. This type of hinge is commonly used so cabinet doors swing out of the way for pullout shelves.

Adding cup pulls onto the faux apothecary drawers

Finding fifteen cup pulls in this town was almost next to impossible. Of course, I didn't give myself enough time to order some online but Mr. Frugalista managed to find some black ones at Rona.

With that many pulls so close to together, there is no room for error when mounting them. To keep the holes perfectly lined up and centered in each square we used a handy dandy Kreg Cabinet Hardware Jig. After a little measuring to set the jig up, we had all thirty holes drilled in no time.

Adding legs to the dresser

I had these awesome tapered wooden legs in my stash. The existing screw pins are meant to use with metal mounting brackets. Mr. Frugalista removed those and inserted double-ended dowel screws for wood into the legs and then the base of the dresser.

I should mention that blocks of wood had to be attached to the bottom of the dresser to accommodate adding legs. But first, the legs were sanded to remove the original finish and stained to match the drawer fronts. They also got a coat of dark wax to deepen the color.

Protective finishes

To protect the chalk painted surfaces, the sides of the dresser and interior walls are protected with clear wax and buffed to a matte finish. The top of the dresser and the bottom of the cupboards are protected with Gator Hide, a water repellent matte clear coat that is more durable.

Recommended products

Low VOC Paint Stripper
Plastic Scraper
Stainable Wood Filler
Stain Blocking Primer
Shop Towels
Chip Brush
Paintbrush
White Chalk Paint
Sage Green Chalk Paint
Waterbased Tobacco Road Gel Stain
Clear Wax
Dark Wax
Round Wax Brush
Water-Repellent Clear Coat
1/4" Smooth Hardboard
Wood Construction Adhesive
Blackened Bronze Cup Pulls
Wood Tapered Legs
4-Way 175° Hinges

Tools

Kreg Cabinet Jig
Table saw
Cordless Drill
Mouse or Orbital Sander

The takeaway from this furniture makeover is that when there is sentimental value attached to a piece of furniture, find a way to salvage, repurpose, and/or refinish it with some careful thought and reLove it into your living space. I hope our DIY faux apothecary dresser has inspired or taught you something new along the way.

I love the white paint and dark stain combination. I used it when giving this Mid-Century Modern Cedar Chest a makeover.

If you have any questions about this makeover, please leave them in the comment section below or press the Contact Me button at the top of the blog to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!

Please join me to see how my talented friend's transformed these furniture pieces. Press the links below to see the after photos and tutorials.

1. Girl In The Garage
2. Confessions Of A Serial DIYer
3. Petticoat Junktion
4. Just The Woods
5. Salvaged Inspirations
6. The Interior Frugalista (that's me)

I share my projects at these inspiring link parties.

Is it a console table or a sofa table, what's the difference? Well, it could be either. Both console and sofa tables are shallow in depth and table or desk height. Console tables traditionally are placed against a wall and sofa tables behind a sofa. Sofa tables should be no taller than the back of a sofa and no wider than six inches on either end. So I'm calling mine a French Console Table because I've added Parisian flair with a pretty Chatellerault furniture transfer.

French Console Table Makeover With Chatellerault Furniture Transfer

The base of my oval console table has unique octagonal column double pedestal legs and empire style feet.

It is Furniture Fixer Upper Day where six talented furniture painting friends come together once a month to breath new life into a piece of furniture. You can find links to the other makeovers at the bottom of this post. Last month I transformed a rather plain pine children's dresser into a Whitewashed Farmhouse Sideboard Buffet.

For my console table makeover this month, let's take a look at what it looked like before the makeover. The original honey or golden oak finish dated this piece and so I didn't feel guilty about painting it. If it were an antique I may have considered stripping and staining it a darker color.

And here it is now, after the makeover. Big difference, right?

So pretty painted green. The color is called Upper Canada and couldn't be more appropriate considering this coming weekend we celebrate Canada Day.

But my favorite part of the console table makeover is the pretty French Prima Chatellerault furniture transfer on the top. Between it and the paint color, the console table has that lovely French Country charm.

This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. At no cost to you, we receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

The pretty Chatellerault transfer may look familiar because a few months ago I used part of it on a Duncan Phyfe Coffee Table Makeover. I've been itching to use the rest of the transfer on another piece and this pedestal console table was a perfect candidate.

I couldn't resist photographing the oval console table with fresh dogwood branches and pretty pink knock out roses from my garden. The scent of the roses filled the room and was heavenly while taking these photos.

Here's how I did it...

Prep for paint

Prepping this piece for the makeover was quick and easy as it didn't need any repairs - such a welcomed treat because that doesn't happen too often.

First I wiped it down with warm water with a drop of Dawn dish soap and 1/2 cup of white vinegar. After it dried I scuffed the surface with 150-grit sandpaper to give the paint some bite and wiped it down with a damp rag, followed by a tack cloth to remove any fine dust particles.

Add the pretty with chalk paint

For this table, I used Fusion Mineral Paint in a pretty Upper Canada green. The color pairs beautifully with the light stain color underneath which will be peeking through the paint for a shabby chic finish. It only took two light coats of paint for full coverage. Once the paint dried I sanded it with 220-grit sandpaper for a smooth as a baby's bottom finish.

A little shabby chic with sandpaper

With 150-grit sandpaper wrapped around an old sanding pad, I distressed the table along the edges for a timeworn look. I didn't apply a lot of pressure on the sanding pad and let the paint dictate where it removed easily.

Add some French flair with a furniture transfer

I love Prima ReDesign furniture transfers. They are so beautiful and add instant drama to painted furniture. I had two pieces left from the Chatellerault furniture transfer that I used on the coffee table mentioned above. This particular transfer comes in three sheets.

The hardest part of using furniture transfers is waiting at least 48 hours before adding them onto a freshly painted surface. I used one complete transfer and just the rose from the other.

I taped the two pieces together just so I could line them up easier before transferring them onto the top of the table.

First I measured the length and width of the transfer to find the center and marked them with a sharpie onto the transfer paper. Next, I marked the center of the tabletop and marked it with chalk. This made lining up and centering the transfer much easier. Of course, I could have eyeballed it but the old eyes ain't what they used to be.

Furniture transfers are so easy to work with and I share some helpful tips below.

Transfer application tips

1. Lay the transfer with the backing paper where you want it on your furniture.
2. Place painters tape on the top portion of the transfer to hold it in place. 
3. Slide the backing paper underneath down about 1-2 inches and rub the transfer onto the furniture using the stick provided. 
4. You can check by carefully lifting the transfer sheet to see where it may need to be rubbed more.
5. Move the backing paper down another 1-2 inches and repeat the steps above until the entire transfer is lifted from the transfer sheet. 
6. Use a lint-free cloth or your fingers to rub any sections that may not have fully transferred.

Prima ReDesigns has small transfers as well that can be used on signs or home decor. I used pretty vintage style floral transfers on my French Terracotta Coasters.

Clear coat protection on the tabletop

So the paint on this table was protected in two steps. The first being sealing the furniture transfer on the tabletop.

Once the transfer was firmly in place, I applied two thin coats of water-repellant clear coat to the TOP ONLY.  Not only will it seal the furniture transfer but will protect the painted top from water rings after it is fully cured.

Give the paint some depth with wax

The Upper Canada color looks gorgeous when paired with dark wax. In the photo below you can see the difference between the unwaxed and dark waxed columns on the pedestal table. See how it deepened the color?

Some dark waxes recommend you apply clear wax first to avoid staining the paint. This allows the dark wax to be more workable for blending and removing the excess. But on this table, I cheated to speed things up by blending clear wax and dark wax together.

I put some clear wax onto a paper plate and added a few dollops of dark wax (a little goes a long way) and blended them together with a painter's palette knife. I applied the wax in sections with a wax brush, letting it nestle into the grain of the oak and wiping the excess with a lint-free rag. I also waxed the tabletop and went right over the furniture transfer with the wax which gave it an aged appearance. Next, I buffed the wax with cheesecloth but a lint-free rag or old t-shirt works just as well.

I went back in with more dark wax along the edges of the table base and top, blending the wax towards the center. For this step, you do not buff the wax. The wax fully cures in 30 days but you can gently use the table within 48 hours.

So what do you think? Have you ever tried Prima furniture transfers? If not, I hope my table has inspired you to give them a try. If a furniture transfer seems a little daunting, try a smaller transfer on a DIY sign, flower pot, or serving tray. I promise once you do you'll be hooked!

If you have any questions about this makeover, please leave them in the comment section below or press the Contact Me button at the top of the blog to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!

Please join me to take a look at how my talented friend's transformed these furniture pieces. Press the links below to see the after photos and tutorials.

1. Girl In The Garage
2. Confessions Of A Serial DIYer
3. Petticoat Junktion
4. Just The Woods
5. Salvaged Inspirations
6. The Interior Frugalista (that's me)

I share my projects at these inspiring link parties.

Sometimes just a wee bit of paint is all a piece of furniture needs to be transformed. Case in point, this beech wood cabinet with a Simmons Juvenile Furniture makers stamp suggests it is for a child's room. But with the two deep drawers and middle cupboard what I saw was a whitewashed media cabinet or white sideboard buffet with farmhouse style.

The light blonde wood in excellent condition is the perfect candidate for a whitewash paint finish. Think of pickling stain but with a lovely matte chalk paint patina. I chose a highly transparent finish with just one coat of paint but it can be as opaque as you like with layers of white paint wash and I show you how easy it is.

White Sideboard Buffet With Farmhouse Style

It is Furniture Fixer Upper Day where six talented furniture painting friends come together once a month to breath new life into a piece of furniture. You can find links to the other makeovers at the bottom of this post. Last month I shared a tutorial on how to paint Arborite with my Retro Dining Table Makeover.

We are saddened to announce that our sweet friend, Larissa has left the group to pursue other blogging ventures. She will be missed but this isn't goodbye because we can still catch all her DIY adventures at Prodigal Pieces.

We are pleased to welcome our newest member, the very talented Denise from Salvaged Inspirations. If you are not familiar with her blog, you are going to LOVE her furniture makeovers!

Back to the sideboard buffet makeover. This is what it looked like before...

This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. At no cost to you, we receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

I had a clear vision for this makeover going in. Paint the cabinet pure white with heavy distressing, stain the top a medium brown, add these awesome Farmhouse decor transfers on the knobs and part of this furniture transfer to the front of the cabinet door. Sadly, they couldn't be shipped on time so onto plan B.

I added a surprise pop of color to the interior by painting the cupboard Upper Canada green. I used a mineral chalk paint which has a built-in sealer so no clear coat is required and it'll cure rock hard within 21 days.

Part of plan B was to add pretty handpainted floral knobs to the top drawers that picked up the green of the painted interior. I decided not to use them because they took away from the simple farmhouse charm. Instead, I kept the original wood knobs and painted them white and distressed to match the whitewash finish.

Unfortunately, the beech veneer top was a lot worse for wear and couldn't be stained. There was some uneven coloring in the veneer so I couldn't give it a transparent whitewash like the rest of the cabinet either.

Onto plan C, an opaque whitewash with four coats of paint and distress the heck out of it with a mouse sander.

I added Farmhouse typography onto the top but instead of a furniture transfer, I went all old school. More about that further down in the post.

Here's a close up of what the transparent whitewash looks like on the lower cabinet and the opaque whitewash on the top.

Part of the deciding factor for giving this piece a farmhouse style makeover was the skirt. Even though I believe it would be considered a craftsman or mission style base to me it had farmhouse potential.

The chicken wire frame sitting on top of the farmhouse sideboard is another DIY project. You can see how I made it here in my repurposed window message board post.

The little girl holding a chicken was painted by my Mom several years ago and is one of my cherished possessions. She was a landscape artist and rarely painted portraits so this is one of just a few.

Here's how I did it...

Prep the cabinet for paint

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is the most dreaded step (at least for me) when doing furniture makeovers BUT it is one of the most important for a long-lasting paint finish. You'll find many helpful tips in my How To Prep Furniture For Chalk Paint A-Z tutorial.

How to whitewash with paint

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the color Old White that I had on hand. When doing a paint wash the more water to paint, the lighter the wash. Typically a 1:1 ratio is used but I thinned mine to the consistency of milk. Sorry, I didn't measure but probably closer to a 2:1 ratio.

You can apply it with a lint-free rag (old t-shirt) or brush it on like I did. Wipe the excess with a lint-free rag before the paint dries. For larger pieces, work in sections. In spots where I got more paint, I used a fine mist spray bottle and just moved the paint with the brush to thin it out.

Like I mentioned earlier in the post, I only applied one coat of whitewash but on the top, I applied four coats.

Distressed farmhouse finish

After the paint dried I distressed along the edges and around the drawer fronts with 150 grit sandpaper where it would normally age over time. I also gave the area around the knobs a worn finish. On the top, I went crazy with a mouse sander, especially along the edges and corners.

Stencil and graphic add more farmhouse charm

Saddened I couldn't get the farmhouse furniture transfer on time but determined I would add farmhouse typography to the top, first I used this grain sack stripe stencil (not an affiliate link) with pewter grey chalk paint to stencil down the middle of the buffet top.

Next, I found this Huge Sign Making Bundle with 40 different design sets on Etsy (not an affiliate link) and printed the Welcome To Our Farmhouse graphic in png format and set to print on legal size bond paper. Instead of including step-by-step instructions on how I applied it to the sideboard, you can find a detailed tutorial in my Graphite Paper Image Transfer Technique post.

Painted with a script liner art brush and Hurricane dark grey chalk paint. Once the paint dried I distressed both the grain sack stripe and graphics with 220 grit sandpaper for a timeworn appearance.

Protect the paint with wax and clear coat

The cabinet base and drawer fronts are protected with white wax applied with a wax brush and buffed with my go-to car detailing wool buffing pad (any of these would work). Mine is meant to be used with a drill but I hand buff instead.

For added protection on the top, I used a water-repellent clear coat tinted white, thanks to a genius tip I learned from Kandice Just The Woods, my fellow Furniture Fixer Upper friend.

After giving the jar a good shake, I poured some Gator Hide onto a paper plate and mixed about 1/2 teaspoon of whitewash glaze.

Applied with a damp car detailing foam applicator pad (any of these would work) in long even strokes. I applied two coats with a 2-hour dry time between coats.

So what do you think? Would you whitewash wood furniture or is a solid paint color more to your liking?

If you have any questions about this makeover, please leave them in the comment section below or press the Contact Me button at the top of the blog to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!

Please join me to take a look at how my talented friend's transformed these furniture pieces. Press the links below to see the after photos and tutorials.

1. Girl In The Garage
2. Confessions Of A Serial DIYer
3. Petticoat Junktion
4. Just The Woods
5. Salvaged Inspirations
6. The Interior Frugalista (that's me)

I share my projects at these inspiring link parties.