Ikea hack - French grain sack theme

This dresser is actually one of a pair we own. I think it's an old version of the Tarva or Rask? I don't know for sure. It's 4 to 6 years old tho. I know I put it together while big and pregnant, I'm just not sure who was baking. haha. 

I actually unpacked and took all the pieces upstairs so I could put it together in the hallway and not have to carry the assembled frame/drawers up. Just couldn't wait for the hubby to help, I guess. 

So! It's just a simple yellow pine dresser. It wasn't finished but when I tried to stain it yesterday, you would have thought that was a lie. It would NOT accept any stain except for in the one spot that I'd sanded a water mark off. Ugh. I wiped it all down (sorry! I didn't think to get pictures of this mistake) and took it outside and hand sanded the dickens out of the top. I just wanted to stain the top to contrast with the white, you see. Anywhoo. It looked much more 'receptive' but I guess it just wasn't good enough. I stained it again with English Walnut and it only took the stain with any conviction in the few places my 80 grit had gouged. Double ugh. 

And this is when I did what any self respecting DIYer would do: I mixed up some chalkish paint and painted the whole dadblasted thing. 

Right before I got started tho, I dug out some massive chunks of hardened Plaster of Paris or grout from my gallon of off-white. Triple ugh. I should have taken pictures but A. I was alone and B. both of my hands were covered in paint. 

Anywhoo! I painted this puppy during the girls' nap and then started googling to see what I could do with it. I thought about doing some grain sack stripes and found a couple pieces via Pinterest and Google: this is my favorite.

In progress...

Yes? No? Still deciding on the new hardware. I wanted to get some pretty red ceramic melon knobs but then I found these: 

and now I am not so sure. 

Dresser in French Enamel

Ignore the messy kitchen and the *ahem* beer kit in the background. This dresser came from my husband's grandmother via his mother. It looks so melancholy, does it not? 

Nothing a nice coat of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in French Enamel can't fix! I originally thought I would paint the whole top surface as well but... I do like a stain/paint contrast. So I'm going to haul it back outside tomorrow and sand the dickens out of it, making it ready for some red mahogany stain. I <3 that color so much.

Now, here's the only thing I don't care for when it comes to milk paint. When you sand it to give it that baby-bottom finish, it smells like soured milk. I don't know anyone who's a fan of that. But at least it doesn't retain it for long and it's definitely worth putting up with for the end result. 

Update:

It needs new hardware on the top drawers. I'm thinking something funky from Anthropologie would be a good touch. 

Plan-less pieces

The other pieces I have sitting in the garage, waiting to be pretty again:

I'm not sure what this started out as but for $19.97 at a local CCA shop, I wasn't about to pass it up. Obviously, holes were cut to allow for cords/pc venting and a pull-out keyboard tray was installed.  

I don't find any sign of a shelf ever being in this sideboard(?) but I would love to put one in and see it used for linen storage or something. 

I think this is a magazine/lamp table? I'm not sure if that's the proper name for it. I love the lines on it and can't wait to see it glazed. 

In case you can't tell, that tag says $9.97. Pretty sweet!

The behemoth. Our son (B) needs a new dresser/tv stand/knick knack surface so I picked this up off Craigslist.  Currently planning to paint it a kind of burnt orange for a base coat and then a cream over it to distress. 

I wish the former  owner had said a few things - that this is veneered, slightly water damaged and has a messed up drawer. But I don't think any of those things render it unusable so... yeah. We'll see.