mammagranate: Dress Up Wardrobe

Where do you keep your kids dress up clothes? We were cramming ours into a toy chest for years. All the little Velcro pieces sticking to everything causing a large clump of messy wrinkled dress up dresses. I pretended that this didn't drive me crazy but the truth is that it did. Then I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was not only adorable but also so practical. The original source for this picture is http://amylemons.blogspot.com/ I love the opportunity to organize something. I also love the opportunity to upgrade something that I am not using and give it a new purpose so this seemed like the perfect project. All of the items I used for this project came from my house. I actually didn't buy anything.

You Need:

tall bookshelf

mirror

plastic mirror clips

adjustable closet rod

paint sample size

small paint roller

paint brush

medium grit sanding block

piece of wood

3 round drawer pulls or hooks

The mirror came from our guest room closet (it had tiny plastic brackets holding it into place). I got a screw driver out and took it down. I took it to a hardware store and they cut a few inches off of it for under $5. When we bought our house I noticed a closet rod in the linen closet which I thought was a little weird but I left it up for the time being. Now I knew exactly what to do with it so I took it down. I found a piece of scrap mdf in the garage that I also took to a hardware store and they cut to size. I even found left over purple and pink sample size paint cans that I had left over from another project. First I took out all of the drawers out of the dresser except for the bottom one.

Next I removed the drawer guides. I used a medium grit sanding block to lightly sand just to give the surface a little texture. This step helps to ensure the paint will stick to the surface. I hate this step but I always force myself to do it. The first step of painting I used a paint brush to cut in all of the corners and edges. Then I used a small paint roller to paint the rest of it. I use a smooth surface paint roller to give it a smooth finish. Spray paint can also work well but it was too cold to drag the dresser outside so I rolled it. When you use a roller you want to make sure you don’t push down too hard because that will leave lines in the finish. I like to use semi-gloss finish paint when I paint furniture. This makes it easier to wipe down. I had to give the dresser three coats of paint. I let each coat dry overnight.

This is because I only had time to work on this project after kids were in the bed. It will tell you exactly how long to wait between coats on the can. The dresser was already painted black so there was no need to prime but if you are painting bare wood you need to either prime it or use paint with a primer in it. I left the top black and used a dragging technique to add some pink to it. I did this by dipping a scrub brush onto the paint and slowly dragging it across the top of the dresser.

Next I took out the bottom drawer and removed the handle. I painted it pink on the face and purple on the inside. I only painted the inside because it had black paint splatters from when I spray painted it black five years ago. I knew my older daughter would think it was dirty and to appease her need for things to be fancy I decided to paint it. Next I used a drill with the screwdriver bit and screwed the adjustable closet rod in. I had my husband help me hold it in place while I screwed it in. Next I hung the mirror on one side. I reused the plastic brackets and screws that were used to hang it in the closet.