Trash to Treasure (Lingerie) Chest

Posted byKeelyPosted inDIYTags:, ,

We have an empty room in the house that we are trying to decorate as a stylish guest room but choosing colors, patterns, and furniture that will also work when it someday serves as a nursery.  Here is the link to the bench from a bookshelf that is also in this room.

There is a small space in the room in between the door and the closet that is only about 29″ wide.  I wanted a tall bureau to fit in this area so we would have as much storage as possible, but I needed something relatively skinny to fit the spot.  After months of searching on CraigsList, I came across a 1960’s French Provincial lingerie chest that had been through the ringer.

It was in rough shape!  When I was sanding it down, I think I went through 4-5 layers of paint – purple, beige, blue, and the original paint. It was probably toxic and I’m very glad I had a mask and gloves!  Even the poor handles had coats and coats of paint.  I saw on an episode of HGTV Rehab Addict that you can remove paint from metal by soaking it in a crock pot.  It works! A few coats of primer and spray paint and I think the piece came out great and it is the perfect fit for my space.

Project cost: About $70 ($40 for the bureau about about $30 for primer and paint).

Lingerie Chest Before and After

Lingerie Chest Before
worst paint job ever
Lingerie Chest Before - Handle Close up
The knobs and pulls just blended into the ugly background.
Lingerie Chest Before
Holy Brushstrokes, Batman!
Lingerie Chest Before
After sanding through so very many layers of paint
Lingerie Chest Before
Unfortunately, the backs and sides of the drawers are particle board. They were in good shape but a little stinky. The original owner of the piece was probably a smoker. Ewww.
Handles with coats and coats of paint.
At first I thought I would buy new handles or just paint these white since they didn’t look like much. I remembered seeing Nicole Curtis strip paint off hardware by placing it in a crock pot and figured it was worth a shot.
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I covered the crock pot with a few lawyers of aluminum foil and then cooked the handles on low with some dish soap and water for a few hours.
Lingerie Chest - in progress
After the first crock pot bath, most of the paint peeled right off!
Lingerie Chest - in progress
The pulls had white accents. I believe these were original but I wanted to see what would happen if I put them back in the crock pot and then scrubbed a bit with some steel wool.
Lingerie Chest - in progress
With all the paint and rust removed – they were glowing! So pretty!
Lingerie Chest - Done
I used spray paint in white and sea glass. As you can see, it first perfectly in this narrow space!
Lingerie Chest - Done
All done!

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