Curbside Upcycle

On one of my first days here in LA I went for a walk around my neighborhood. I just wandered and I saw a perfectly good chest of drawers up on the curb in front of a house. Well I am not used to the custom here, but I ran home and asked what this could possibly mean. They assured me that if something was on the curb, it was free. Oooo now my hunting begins! I picked up the desk and began my crafting.

Now I made a big mistake and did not take before pictures. The dresser was a 30 year old black dresser with dings and dents. It had original round wooden hardware, but two were missing. And one of the drawers bottom had split and broken through. It was solid wood, and it had cute decorative paneling on the left and right sides. First I stripped the top of the dresser and gently sanded the all the old paint. 

 

 I knew I wanted to sell it, so the hardest task for me was picking the paint. You'll come to know that I am addicted to red, and so I couldn't resist. These are the changes I made
- repainted knobs and dresser-                   $15
- reinforced all the wobbly stuff-                  $0
- Two brand new top knobs, metal-            $10
- 4 coats of a barn red on each drawer     $0
- Replaced the bottom of one drawer       $10
                                                            I spent $35 to fix it up

 

Listed on Craigslist 3 times and it sold for $80.

That is a $45 dollar profit