The New Dresser - 1920's to 1940's Oak Veneer Dresser Part 1

Lilly and Anna share a dresser.  The problem is they are girls and their clothes are poofy and they have a lot of them.  They try and get dressed at the same time and fight over whose drawer gets to be open.  I figured it was time for them to quit sharing and Lilly could have not just one drawer but a whole dresser.  I went to Craigslist.

New furniture in the store is made from particle board and just doesn't match our style.  Actually it is my mom and dad's fault. They collected and refinished old furniture.  My mom's dad Grandpa Kissell was the Dr. Frankenstein of furniture.  When I got married I inherited a lot of cool stuff and still like it.

I found a dresser that had been in an abandoned house for 10 years.  It has a mirror and all the parts which were in pretty good condition, just a drawer won't work and it didn't look that good cosmetically.

The top had the most damage.  I broke a wooded wheel while moving it.  

The part holding up the mirror is 3 parts that needs to be glued together.  I am also troubleshooting why one of the drawers won't close.

First thing I did was evaluate the condition, I didn't want to sand and strip this piece.  I wanted something quick and I called my dad.  He said there was something you could just wipe on and off.  I found it in Howard's Restore a Finish.  Here is one side versus another on the drawers.

This side has either sun marks or water marks.  The side now looks great in comparison to before.

I have followed up with the Feed and Wax which smells yummy from bees wax and orange oil. 

I went to my dresser and I knew there was a bag of wheels.  I always wondered why there were 5 wheels in there.  Maybe God knew I would need another wheel like 10 years ago because there were 5 in the bag and there are only 4 legs on most dressers.

I am still working on the drawer.  That is a whole other post.