Friday, October 11, 2013

Dress-Up Wardrobe

for a while, i've been thinking that i wanted to convert gianna's dresser into something else. i had an idea.  and, of course, i've seen little ideas on pinterest.  i knew that once my dad built her shelving and toybox in her room that i wouldn't need the dresser for storage.  to be honest, all of her clothes are in a hanging organizer in her closet and one drawer of her changing table.  this dresser is older.  it was a hand-me-down from toby's sister, madison.  my mom painted it brown for when roman used it and white for gianna.  so, it's been painted twice. so, the drawers weren't really sliding easy any more. 

time to flip it.  make it new again.  something that she can use.  i would call it a dress-up wardrobe. you see, roman loved to play dress up.  he still does.  i can't even tell you how many costumes he has.  it's insane.  so, i'm thinking that if a boy likes to dress up, what is a girl gonna do?  i need to get ready for all the girly costumes and dresses and accessories.  

so, i wanted to do this for her birthday, but didn't know how long it would take me to do it.  i emptied the last things out of it last saturday morning and got started.  

this is what it looked like.  i removed the top three drawers.  actually the drawer that i kept was the top one because i liked it best.  it had two knobs instead of pulls and is meant to look like two separate drawers.  i had plans in my head, but it was definitely a "fly by the seat of my pants" project. 
i had a helper.  she was happy eating her crackers. 
and drinking her juice.
i put these decorative jeweled knobs on one side for her to eventually hang some necklaces or bags. she saw them and said "oooooh, pitty!"
i attached a new piece of wood in the back to give it a nice even back and worked from there.  i added braces to each side above the drawer so that i could add a shelf.  i also changed out the knobs on the front.
we took a break and refreshed our lip gloss.  i mean, diy is best done with pretty lips, right?

i added new side pieces and covered the bottom, top and sides with contact paper that i already had.  i painted the back of it with the same paint from her room.  i had it already, so i figured i would use what i had.  i added trim to the front to cover up the ugly edges of my new inner frame and the gaps where i removed the brace from under the top drawer.  it definitely isn't perfect, but i used some wood filler because i didn't have any caulk.  it filled the nail holes and made my corners look a lot more clean.  then, i gave it a coat of white paint.  

in the end, this is what it looked like.  i added a tension shower curtain rod for her to hang her pretty dress up clothes.  also, i had some pink vinyl in my stash, so i made a sign that says "You are Beautiful" on the back.  i mean, who doesn't want to be told they are beautiful, right?
before/after
i can't wait to fill it up with stuff for her birthday.  i hope she gets lots of enjoyment out of it for many years.  

5 comments:

allie1126 said...

OH MY GOODNESS!!! The "new" dresser is awesome! I love it! You did such a great job!! It is so precious and Gianna will love it! I would have loved a dress up dresser growing up =) you are such a thoughtful mom.

Krista said...

It's awesome Stace! Gianna's gonna love this for years!!!

Stacie Colella said...

Thank you, friend!

Stacie Colella said...

Thanks Krista, I hope she does...

Lisa E said...

Over from Bower Power. Love this!