Refinishing an Old Dresser

When I got my first apartment my parents sent me with this dresser. It had been sitting in an attic in Alabama for years and despite a few attempts with some "wood restorer" it was quickly dying. When I finally decided to restore it, I took it apart and realized it was missing tenons and most of the glue had dried to a point of no longer working. I'm not entirely sure how the whole thing was staying together.

I made new stretchers, scraped off old glue, added new glue, and replaced parts. I took off some of the decorative elements including a kick plate that left a big hole in the bottom which I had to fill. Fortunately this added some extra stability to the whole thing too.

I stained the drawers in such a way to look like old leather. The dark edges against the glossy white carcass emphasizes the drawers and reduce the overall visual weight of the object.