My Very Own DIY.

I follow Design Sponge fairly religiously and my favorite posts are the DIY before and after posts.  Every time I see something inspiring, which is often, I resolve to do something myself.

So I did.

In the move in/move out hullabaloo that occurred at the end of August this last summer, someone left behind a sad looking dresser. It was totally cheap and falling apart. It was left in the front entry way outside our apartment door. Eventually, someone moved it outside. It got rained on. It got soggy. There were bugs in it. And I took pity.

So I brought it inside, let it dry for a few days, and made the Home Depot my best friend.

Check it out!!

Before:

So sad! It was peeling already from the rain...

Broken, crooked drawers.

I bought "Paint Stripper" and covered it. You can see its acidic goodness seeping in, here. Don't get that stuff on your skin, though. It burns. I wore bright orange utility/rubberey gloves. It made me feel like Marty McFly in Back to the Future when he dresses in his yellow "space suit."

Then I used a scraper to peel off the white not-really-paint-but-I-don't-know-what-else-to-call-it paint.

Then I sanded it.

And in the process of scraping it fell apart, so I put it back together (making a shelf with two drawers instead of four drawers) and filled in all the screw and nail holes with putty stuff and left it to dry over night.

Then I primed it:

 And was SO EXCITED to paint it! (Just LOOK at how EXCITED I am! Or perhaps that's a look of mild apprehension? I don't know. You pick.)

And I painted.

Drip, drip drip.

TAH DAH!!!!!

Complete with festive lantern and candy corn!

It's so cute I could just die.

This project comes highly recommended.