I was hoping it wouldn't come to a flip. My friend's gorgeous antique dresser was exactly what you'd picture you'd find while shopping overseas: inlay wood, carved accents, dovetail joints, with corners and edges worn smooth by time. Years of use and multiple military moves, though had resulted in some serious structural integrity. 'Balance' was literally the only thing holding it together. Yikes. But I wanted to try. 50 minutes of being strapped down in the back of a pick-up truck changed everything. It fell apart. COMPLETELY. We carried it off, piece by piece, with her assuring me over and over that she was no longer emotionally attached and if it couldn't be salvaged, she wouldn't cry. Ugh, no pressure...
I was hoping to reinforce everything but most of the wood was just too brittle - the sides, the drawers, the dovetail joints - they just couldn't take any more. But the hard, polished top of the dresser, the carved drawer fronts, a pretty trim piece along the bottom, and the fat spiraled front feet could all be salvaged. I wanted to give her the same type of storage and functionality that the dresser had in a completely new piece. Since those three-tiered rolling carts are all the rage right now, I went with that concept. I used the old drawers as a starting point to measure for size and built entirely new drawers for the two carved fronts. 2x4s served as a frame to hold the drawers in place and to top everything off with the top piece from dresser. I repurposed the trim originally off bottom to dress up the front of the dresser top - it not only gives it a little flourish but it hides all the imperfections on the bottom side of the top. The fat spiraled front feet became feet once again as I could connect them securely with large screws and brackets. The 2x4s were ultimately covered with paneling on either side and finished out on the front with rope accent trim (which perfectly matched the drawer fronts!). Some gel stain on all the 'new' pieces of wood brought the entire piece together for a finished look!
