Hall Nook / Dresser Project

On this snowy (again) Saturday I want to share one of my first re-furb projects.  I have learned that I enjoy re-finishing furniture - and this is one of my favourite projects so far.

The project started with our predicament of the hall nook. The previous owners closed off the hallway on our main floor. I suppose this was to "add space" to the living room, but it means you have to go through the living and dining rooms to get to the kitchen. The other problem with this space is the glass blocks they used on the top of the wall to "let light in".  Really?  I thought those were only used in the 80's.  This is the before:

I had a brainwave one day: why not put a dresser in our nook? It could hold all (some) of my extra purses, as well as scarves, gloves, mittens.  We do have a hall closet but it is quite small and there is not a lot of space for these extras. After a bit of searching I found a dresser posted on craigslist - here's what it looked like (notice that it fit perfectly):

I went about refinishing it - sanded it, primed, and painted it:

I chose a black glossy finish and hardware from Lee Valley (great source). I had bought a mirror that I had no idea where I was going to use (I just knew I loved it!). Low and behold, not only does it look great in the nook but it pretty much covers the glass blocks perfectly. Bliss!!

It has some Christmas/winter decor on it right now (I'm amazed that the pointsietta is still alive so it's sticking around for January!), but will update for the spring soon.

Happy snowy Saturday!