I love Craigslist. As a family, we have sold two cars, tons of clothing, furniture, decor, etc. We have also bought quite a bit of stuff. Well, I’ve been on the hunt for a vintage dresser for a few months. I’ve seen one or two that I like, but the price wasn’t even in the ballpark of what I wanted to spend. Well, I got lucky last week. This beautiful dresser was listed for $100. Sold.
(Can you tell which room I put it in based on the curtains?)
Luke went and picked it up for me. I might have backed out (if I was there), because the home had some strong smokers. The dresser had a definite stench to it. I’m glad Luke ended up getting it, because I really love how it looks and fits in the space.
I found a great article on Wood Menders about how to get rid of smoke smell from furniture. Based on their article, I placed paper plates filled with baking soda in each drawer. After 12-24 hours, I threw away the old plates and did it again.
After the baking soda, I wiped everything down with Lysol wipes. After the Lysol wipes, I used a lemon wood cleaner. The outside of the dresser doesn’t have a smell anymore, but the inside drawers have a tiny bit. Once we get a nice sunny day, I will take the drawers outside and let them sit for 6-8hrs. Overall, I’m super happy with the purchase.
Here’s a picture of the dining room without the dresser:
and with the dresser:
I need to take a furniture marker and clean-up a few spots and then on to styling it.
Any ideas for styling? I definitely want to do artwork and do it big. I don’t want to use any mirrors. You can’t really see it, but the whole china cabinet built-in monstrosity is backed in mirrors. Adding more to the space would definitely be over-kill. A punch of color (maybe coral?) would probably be good. What do you think?
I love the dresser! What a great find and steal!
Thanks! I was super excited!
OMG – LOVE that dresser!! It has such great details! Are you going to leave it be or do anything to it?
PS _ I think I’ve read if you stuff the drawers with newspapers it will absorb some of the smoke smell.
I will definitely try the newspaper idea. Thanks! I’m going to leave it be for right now.
That is such a great find. And I will try that baking soda trip on my old dresses too!
Greetings from Germany!
If you want to cover any worn areas, scratches, etc. try using orange oil. It will hid a lot of it especially on that color wood. It also helps to condition the wood and keep it from drying out. Great find and for a great price!
Thanks for the tip. I will definitely try that out.