How to Strip Veneer & a Dresser Makeover

I finally finished a dresser that I found at Goodwill a few months ago!  I fell in love when I saw her, but she definitely needed some work! 

This is how she looks now:

But this is what she looked like when I bought her:

 Two of her drawers had lost most of the veneer, and the third was cracking!

And the top!!  Oh, it was disgusting!  But she had some pretty details that I couldn't resist. 

Normally, when I see furniture with veneer that is cracked or peeling (like this piece), I tend not to even bother with it.  Veneer is not easy nor fun to deal with, in my opinion!!! Ha!

However, I figured a few drawers wouldn't be too bad!  

This is the method I use to strip veneer:

First of all, I get a very damp cloth.  Then, working in small sections,  I lay the cloth over the veneer,  take a hot iron, and press it firmly onto the cloth.  I hold it there for about 30 seconds or so before removing the iron.  

 Then I take my scraper and slowly peel off the veneer.  The moisture from the cloth and the heat from the iron loosens up the glue, making it come off quite easily.  If it doesn't, I go back and repeat the process until it does!  

This method works really well, its just time consuming and tedious!  Not my favorite thing to do!

Anyways, once I removed all the veneer, there was still some glue residue on the drawers, so I sanded them down, getting them as smooth as possible.  

Then she was ready for the fun part!! Although her top was nasty, I loved the dark color, so I gave the top a good sanding as well, and restained it in Minwax's Special Walnut.

I chose Betsy's Linen for the body of the dresser, and went with Shiitake for the drawers.

Then I distressed her and gave her some new knobs!

 I think she is just gorgeous, and worth all that veneer stripping!  

Oh, and I almost forgot...I paid $20 for her at Goodwill, and the knobs cost $14 at Hobby Lobby.

The paint and stain were leftover from other projects, 

so the total cost for her was $34! 

Therena

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