Office: Thrift Store Dresser Plans

As you may know, we decided to turn our underused formal dining room into our home office.  We have been on the lookout for a sideboard/credenza/dresser that would sit behind our desk & serve as an office storage piece.  It has been on ongoing search for the past several months.  This was the general criteria for our thrift store find:

dimensions: had to be slightly longer & higher than our current desk- so that it could be seen from behind the desk & fill up more of the wall space

age: not too old to be considered an antique- that way we wouldn't feel bad about painting & modifying it  
storage space: preferably a combo of drawers & shelves behind doors
quality: we wanted a piece made of solid wood that was well made
style: we preferred a piece with clean lines & nothing too modern or ornate
budget: we planed on spending around $200-250 total on the project

We found this photo online & it was pretty much exactly what we were looking for.  So we scoured Craigslist & local thrift stores for a piece similar to that one.  It seemed like it was going to be very difficult to find something that hit everything we wanted & that was in our budget.  Then a few weeks ago, we found a piece from a local thrift store that worked...for the most part:

dimensions: it fits just right- 8" longer than our desk & a couple of inches taller

age: we're guessing it's from the 70's/80's (no guilt here about painting the finish!)

storage space: doesn't have any shelves, but we plan on modifying the middle drawers

quality: it's solid wood construction with dovetail joints

style: although the hardware is a little funky, the basic lines are clean & simple

budget: $175 total- $150 for the dresser & $25 for delivery (so worth it!)

Here it is @ the thrift store:

It's not the prettiest looking thing right now, but we're glad to be done with the search & start the actual makeover process.

Our DIY makeover plans:

clean, sand, & paint

possibly add feet/legs

spray paint the hardware OR replace with brand new hardware

add metal file label holders to drawers (similar to this)

drawers with some cool lookin' contact paper

modify middle section into shelves & create a pull-out printing center (like this)

Now, we just need to pick out a paint color for the dresser.  These are the other colors & finishes we already have throughout the room:

Right now our paint ideas are dark gray, light gray, metallic, or white.  Decisions, decisions...  Guess it's time to get some samples & test 'em out!

Mel & Nader

:)