Dresser + paint =love!

A few weeks ago my hubs and I made plans for a trip to PGH (Pittsburgh).  We decided to head there for a few reasons, first his uber smart best friend is doing his residency there and we could visit him, 2. there is a cool downtown, 3. there was an Ikea and 4. I could find some craigslist deals.  About a week before we left I started looking on craigslist for things on my wish list: a dresser and desk for Quinn's room were at the top of my list.

On Sunday afternoon I came across a listing for a dresser that I loved, it was more of a chest actually.  Tall with 4 drawers, decent shape and beautiful lines...sort of an antique style and the $25 price was right up my ally.  I waited until Monday morning to send an email, (since a lot of craigslist business goes on over the weekend), I tried not to get my hopes up and waited to see if it was still for sale.  I hit send and waited...about 2 hours later I had a one word reply: Yes.  Woohoo, let the happy dance begin....but I now I needed to talk this person into holding it for me until Saturday.  After a little back and forth the seller agreed.  5 days later Lance and I pulled up with a Uhaul trailer attached to the back of our SUV, Lance used his supreme deal making skills, handed over an Andrew Jackson ($20) and we were on our merry way with this girl:

She had seen better days for sure, but under that blue marker and dirty grunge was potential.  She had been kept in a garage so there was a bit of a musty odor and one of the drawers needed some repair work.  I gave her a good scrubbin' with some hot soapy water and knew that she was going to be a star.  The musty smell was gone, and she was looking better. I took some wood glue and repaired the drawer that needed mending and putty to fill in the un-used knob holes.  Then I was off to Lowe's to pick out paint.  After much deliberation, I decided on a color called "Muted Ebony" from Valspar.  It is kind of a steel gray, I wanted a dark, sophisticated gray so I thought this would work.  Retrospectively, I wish I'd gone for a lighter gray, but it is growing on me.  After 3 very thin coats of paint with a foam roller this is what I am left with:

 

The gold handles and knobs weren't cutting it anymore, so I took a can of $1 spray paint and gave them a little makeover.  I may change them out later but this works for now.  The top was a different material, kind of a slick, lacquer so I didn't plan to paint it.  I gave it a scrubbing and left it white.  I love how it turned out, although I may add a bit of flair and paint the trim black, this area to give it a bit more character.  Thoughts???

I'll let you know how it turns out if I go that route.   All in all, I think my $20 dresser looks like a million bucks.  Ok, maybe not a million but a good $999,999...here is another looksy:

Here is the budget breakdown:
Dresser- $20
Paint - $11
Spray Paint - $1

Grand Total: $32 for a pretty snazzy dresser that really set the stage for the room re-do!