Savvy Apron

By

Dresser Makeover with Shutters

Yum

Filed Under: Before and After, DIY

Sharing is caring!

I made this beautiful dresser with shutters from an old dresser and a pair of thrifted shutter doors.

This dresser makeover with shutters is one of my most popular furniture makeovers. I think it is because many of us have one of these old dressers. This project was not hard to do and it updated an old piece of furniture into a piece of furniture that looks like it came from a high-end store.

Dresser Makeover with Shutters is an easy way to update a dresser.

This DIY dresser makeover with shutters saved me from a battle with my husband that I was not ever going to win. Guess what? We both have won now!

I make this beautiful dresser with shutters from an old dresser and a pair of thrifted shutter doors.

This old dresser was my husband’s grandfather’s dresser who passed away 20 years ago. It was given to my husband along with the matching chest about 4 years ago. We did not need the furniture but it is sentimental for my husband so I can not ever get rid of it.  I really don’t blame him for wanting to hold on to it. We live in a one-story home without a basement so the furniture has been in my garage for several years. Every time we clean the garage out, we shuffle these pieces around and pile stuff on them. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could use them for storage but the drawers are so small that it is useless.

Being a repurposer, and I could not come up with any ideas to make these pieces useful or pretty. When I was out shopping one day, and I saw a cabinet with shutter doors that were beautiful. I thought that the cabinet would look great in my kitchen. Every time I see one of these cabinets on the Internet, I save it. The cabinet has been on my mind for a while now.

The Project

I make this beautiful dresser with shutters from an old dresser and a pair of thrifted shutter doors.

One day I was on my treadmill in the garage, and I was looking at the dresser because it was there (it is always there).  There were two old shutter doors sitting nearby that I use with my holiday decor. A lightbulb went off, and I went over to the dresser, removed the drawers, and held the shutters up to the dresser. This could work! After dragging my husband out to the garage, he agreed with me, this could work.

Clean the furniture well.

After removing the drawers, I cleaned the dresser with a vacuum and Clorox wipes. I sanded the dresser with a palm sander and medium-grit sandpaper and wiped the dust off with a tack cloth.  The shutter doors were not wide enough to cover the front of the dresser but I had two boards in my stash that would work.

I made this beautiful dresser with shutters from an old dresser and a pair of thrifted shutter doors.

Cut the boards to fit.

I make this beautiful dresser with shutters from an old dresser and a pair of thrifted shutter doors.

We also had to shave a little less than an inch off the bottom of the shutters.

I made this beautiful dresser with shutters from an old dresser and a pair of thrifted shutter doors.

Prime and paint the dresser and shutters.

One thing that I have learned is to lightly sand after every coat of paint and also after every coat of primer to give your furniture a professional looking paint job. I painted the dresser with a Valspar sample and the color is Frappe. The color that I used to whitewash is Gravity.

I make this beautiful dresser with shutters from an old dresser and a pair of thrifted shutter doors.

Since the picture of my dream cabinet with shutter doors is light colored, I went with a whitewash on top and I LOVE it!

I make this beautiful dresser with shutters from an old dresser and a pair of thrifted shutter doors.

Add water to the paint to thin it for whitewashing.

I made this beautiful dresser with shutters from an old dresser and a pair of thrifted shutter doors.

Brush it on and wipe it off.

I let it dry overnight and applied a top coat to protect my cabinet.  Well, I am so pleased with my new dresser makeover with shutters because I have a gorgeous new cabinet for my kitchen, and I have more room in my garage. I am also glad that my husband has his grandfather’s dresser right in our kitchen.

DIY Dresser makeover with thrifted shutters.

I have been asked what I did inside the dresser. I planned on using baskets to store kitchen items in but I left it like it was so that I could store all my placemats, linens, chargers, and napkins. It works perfectly for these items because they can lay flat and not wrinkle.

 

You might like DIY Tripod Floor Lamp. It is made from a thrifted telescope.

DIY Tripod Floor Lamp made with a thrifted telescope and light kit.

 

Comments

  1. Carol says

    Sherry, Don’t you love it when the Universe aligns just right for you! This literally fell into your lap and you went with it. I’m glad your husband gave you the go ahead because it looks awesome! Beautiful, my friend; and that horse painting for $30 is fantastic!.

  3. Lynn Spencer says

    Sherry, this is an incredible makeover!!! I am blown away by the transformation!! You really took from dated to incredibly versatile. WEll done my friend! You killed it!

    Hugs, Lynn

    PS…Terry just walked in and I showed him…he was even blown away!!

  5. Cathy Lawdanski says

    I love this! I am sitting at my daughter’s house looking at almost that exact same dresser! She has it in the baby’s nursery using it as a changing table. Shutter doors would be beautiful!

  8. Tavie says

    Wow. That looks great. You come up with the best ideas. Did you do anything to the inside of the cabinet?

    • Sherry says

      Thanks Tavie! I started to put baskets inside the cabinet but I wanted to store placemats, napkins, and chargers so I just left the shelves like they were. All the placemats can lay flat like this. I need to post pictures of the inside now.

  10. Toni | Small Home Soul says

    Wow, that turned out beautifully. I never would have thought to combine the two but it looks like it came that way from the factory. I bet your husband is thrilled that his grandpa’s dresser now has a place of importance in your home!

  14. Pili says

    How is you always come with this amazing a creative things? I would have never thought about using shutters as cabinet doors. The color is perfect and the picture is a great find.

  19. Grandmas House DIY says

    What a great idea – turned out beautiful! Pinning to my before and afters furniture board. We would love to have you at our To Grandma’s house we go link party that opened this Wednesday morning and lasts all week!

  21. Mary-the boondocks blog says

    Sherry this is outstanding. Very creative thinking on your part to add the shutters. It is now a one of a kind piece.

  22. Kate Hollingsworth says

    Wow! What a brilliant transformation. I love that something with such a long history and sentimental ties can have pride of place in your kitchen. And I swoon over anything with shutters … well done! xx

  26. Nicki Parrish says

    That turned out beautifully Sherry! It is great! We are getting new counter tops for our kitchen this Spring or summer and a new back door in the kitchen. I want white marble looking quartz too! Then we have to paint the cabinets, for the second time since living here.

  27. Emily says

    I love how this turned out! We have some shutters that the old homeowners left here, I may have to think of a way to use them now! Thanks for linking up to #HomeMattersParty

  28. Jen Fancher says

    Wow! This is so incredibly stunning! I absolutely love how you transformed this piece! I’m sharing this on my page! Congrats on a beautiful result.

  30. Julie Christiansen says

    What a transition! Makes me look at the furniture around me a bit differently, wondering how I could update some of my own pieces. I’m inspired. Thanks for sharing your talents!

  31. Laurie says

    Sherry, This is an awesome project and I love the look! Pinned and wanted to let you know that you post will be featured on Saturday at Snickerdoodle Create-Bake-Make Link Party! Hope you can join us.

    ~Laurie

  32. Erlene Amat says

    Wow, this is amazing! I would have never thought to take out the drawers to add shutters. I think it’s fabulous and a wonderful way to repurpose something with sentimental value.

  36. Melissa says

    This turned out so great. I’d love you to share this at the Family Joy Blog Link Party this week! Sunday at 10am!

  37. Melissa says

    I’m so glad you decided to join us this week for the Family Joy Link Party! I really love this project and shared it all over the place the other day. I’m adding it to our Link Party Pinterest Board today as well! Great job!!

  38. Nicki Parrish says

    Hey Sherry, I wanted to let you know that I will be sharing a picture of this beautiful makeover in a favorites post I am currently working on. There will be one photo with a link back to this post. You did such an awesome job on this!

  39. sabina says

    I would love to see how the cabinet looks on the inside? or do you not use it for storage?

    • Sherry says

      Hi Sabrina! If you look at the 6th picture on the post, you can see what it looks like inside. When I removed the drawers, it left the shelves. I was thinking that I would put baskets in it and store things in them, but I decided that the shelves would be perfect to lay out and store my placemats, table runners, napkins, chargers, and trays. I hope that helps.

        • Sherry says

          I found mine at a Thrift Store for only a couple of dollars. I see them fairly often there. I just looked on ebay to see if there were any and they are priced very high, like $75 each. I would check Goodwill stores and thrift stores. I hope you find some.

  40. Pamela says

    This is AMAZING!!! You brought this piece back to life with so much more personality! Who would have thought shutters? Perfect!

Trackbacks