Inspirational Make Over: Old Furniture Turned Into Modern Chest of Drawers

Joanne Kelly from Think Contemporary recently sent us an original design project. Here is her description:  “When I found this tallboy stashed away in the back of my grandmothers loft in Galway, I couldn’t believe my luck. I knew instantly that myself and Anthony could do something amazing with it. We wanted to create something completely different using a new material. After lots of research we decided to go down the road of using printed vinyls, which has now started to become a trademark for Think Contemporary. Then all we had to do was restore and upcycle this beautiful piece. I stripped away the old finish using methylated spirits and steel wool. Then it was a matter of removing the handles and applying the first undercoat. Once the undercoat was dry, I sanded it down using a low grade sandpaper and applied a second undercoat. This gave a good base for the top coat.

The next step was to apply a satin finish water-based paint, allowing it to dry before sanding it again and then giving it a second coat. After leaving the paint to dry for a couple of days, I then applied the vinyl to the front for a quirky effect. I sprayed the original handles with gold paint and reused them. ” Be sure to check out the last photo for an image of how this tallboy looked before the conversion.