Before & After: A Thrift Store Media Cabinet Gets a Makeover

I all but settled on an IKEA hack; this would be my first DIY project and I wasn’t confident enough to take on something too complicated, and spent several weeks browsing the Internet in search of inspiration. I couldn’t justify the price of a professionally restored piece and living in New York City I knew I had a better chance of spotting a unicorn than finding a reasonably priced Craigslist, stoop sale or flea market item in need of TLC. In what I thought was going to be another futile thrift store visit, I found this Bassett dresser for $25. After two weeks of sanding, priming, staining, painting, and lots of internet research and approximately $125 worth of plywood, sandpaper, primer, paint, stain and new legs I have a DIY project that I’m really proud of and a great piece a furniture. According to the staff, they’ve had the dresser for two years so it was priced to move. It wasn’t what I originally imagined, more late 70s or early 80s than mid-century, but I dug the lines and appreciated the length (70 inches). Although the dresser had been roughed up and was currently serving as the store’s storage cabinet, I found the $25 price tag hard to believe.