Repurposed Drawers for Storage and Display

I'm sharing how I gave a pair of road-side-rescued drawers fresh new life, ball feet, and ideas for using them for both storage and display!
white painted drawer

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Hey there sweet friend! I'm so glad you're here! Summer is officially over as my daughter started school today 😊😢 It's definitely a bittersweet feeling, but I am looking forward to being on a schedule and getting my home cleaned and purged (I'm reading Cozy Minimalist by The Nester and it is definitely resonating with me on many levels! You can have MORE style with less stuff!!) I will probably be sharing more about this soon on the blog as I de-clutter my stuff! I may even host a de-cluttering sale at my home!

Today is Thrifty Style Team project sharing day! We've taken a bit of a break for summer, but we're all anxious to get back to crafting, DIYing and sharing our budget-friendly projects with our readers!


If you're new here, Thrifty Style Team consists of a talented group of DIY bloggers. We are passionate about our homes and decorating them the "thrifty" way! So if you also love to create a beautiful home on a budget, keep reading! You'll find links to ALL the projects at the end of this post!

ROAD-SIDE RESCUE

I've shared before how excited I get when I find something for free at the side of the road, that I can repurpose! Who doesn't like free?

When I spotted these drawers, I snatched them right up! They're a nice, small size and I knew I could work them into my decor...maybe even in my craft room!

drawers rescued from the side of the road

They weren't in bad shape, just a little grimy and orange-y, but I knew I could remedy that! I love the dovetail drawers! That tells me they are well made and sturdy.

Here are the supplies I used to update these drawers so they'd fit my home and style.

SUPPLIES



drawers before

DRAWER MAKEOVER

After giving the drawers a good clean, I removed all the hardware, including the sliding rails on the sides. I patched the holes and once dry, lightly sanded them.

fill holes

USE A PRIMER WHEN PAINTING WOOD WHITE

Now, I've learned the hard way when I want to paint a dark piece of furniture white, that my first step SHOULD BE a blocking primer. I usually skip this step, and then pay the price when the tannins in the wood bleed through!

This time, I was ready! I had a feeling that this orangey wood, with its glossy stain, would bleed through, so I painted the entire piece with one coat of blocking primer. Once that dried, I painted with chalk paint. Thrifty Tip Alert > The beauty of using the primer is that I only needed one coat of white chalk paint instead of the 2-3 it normally takes!

prime with stain blocking primer

PREPPING "FEET" 

While the drawers were drying, I moved on to the "feet". Totally unnecessary, but a cute addition that also helps to protect my other furniture from the bottom of the drawer when sliding it! I found a package of 9 1-1/2" ball knobs with pre-drilled holes. The balls are flat on the bottom, which made them ideal to use as feet for my repurposed drawers.

After rigging up a little staining station using some Dollar Tree styrofoam discs and wood skewers, I set to work staining the feet a nice rich brown, then left them to dry while I worked on my drawers. The use of skewers is the same tip I used when I needed to quickly paint pumpkins here and here.

painting tip for wood balls

stained balls for dresser feet

DISTRESSING

I took my painted drawers outside and sanded them to reveal some of the original wood just along the edges. I think this step is worth it as it adds so much character to a wood piece. You can see the difference below.

sand drawers to distress

ADDING HARDWARE

I already had the perfect hardware! Back when I redid the farmhouse coffee station in my kitchen, and used these drawer pulls, I was left with a couple and I've been hoarding them, waiting for the perfect project! This was it!

FINISHING UP

The paint was dry, hardware on, and the last step was to add the little feet to the drawers I was working on. A bit of wood glue is all they needed.

glue wood ball feet

My drawers are finished and I love the update! I added in one of my African Violets for a little green. (Vi is 10 years old! Read here for tips on growing repeat blooming African Violets!

painted drawer - road side find to stylish decor

close up of dovetail drawer

Can you see how the sanding brought out the details of the wood and those dovetail drawers?

distressed drawer

The feet are a nice little finishing touch and I like how they slightly elevate the painted drawers.

new hardware

wood feet on painted drawer

These drawers are now perfect farmhouse catchalls, and I know they'll look great wherever I use them. In fact, they'll probably make the rounds in my home 😉 but for now, I'm using them in my modern farmhouse office to hold craft supplies.

wood painted drawer adds stylish storage to bookshelves

The white drawers are a great contrast to my black IKEA bookcases and, along with the peel and stick wallpaper, help to brighten up this corner...the wallpaper is an easy way to lighten without using paint.

craft room storage bookshelf

painted drawers with new hardware and ball feet

Cute storage for next to nothing! I'd love to know what you think of my repurposed drawers, and if you like this post, please PIN and SHARE!

repurposed drawers - from trash to stylish decor
As promised, here are the links to the projects my fellow Thrifty Style Team members made. Click on the links below this image to be taken directly to the tutorials.
thrifty projects for the home

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    Comments

    1. Those little ball feet are adorable, I need to stock up on them since I have an over abundance of drawers I should be turning into storage.

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    2. This is such a great idea. We always need more storage. Especially cute storage that can hide all the mess.

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    3. These turned out so cute, Cindy! I have a drawer...I'm trying to purge everything but I hung on to it, and now I think I'll add some cute little ball feet to it. Thanks for the wonderful and beautiful inspiration.

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    4. These are beautiful, Cindy! What a clever and functional way to repurpose these drawers! I love the finish! xoxo

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    5. super cute! i never would have thought to be feet on a drawer. what a great idea. thanks for sharing the inspo

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    6. The stained feet are just as adorable as can be! Plus they add so much personality. You have so many amazing ideas, Cindy.

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    7. Such a great project. I love reusing drawers and yours turned out so pretty!

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    8. These drawers just wouldn't be the same without those little wooden feet! I need these to corral some of my cookbooks!

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