Outdated / updated Folk Art chest

Cute little ‘folk art’ style three drawer chest.  Emphasis on the LITTLE!  It’s more like jewelry box size, but with deeper drawers.

The images on the drawers are glued on PAPER; and the knobs are STAPLES on!  So, that’s a new ‘issue’ for me to deal with.  I can’t sand off all of the paper without removing the knobs, and those suckers would not BUDGE!  I finally just had to WHACK them off with a rubber mallet; then lift the staples with a screwdriver, then pull then the rest of the way out with pliers.  Whew!

And this is what the drawer fronts looked like after I sanded off the paper pictures.  I could fill the holes from the staples and drill new holes for the new knobs . . . . OR . . . .    before I did all that I noticed that the BACKS of the drawers were the SAME size as the fronts.  Could the solution to this conundrum possibly be as simple as turning the drawers around?!?!?  NOTHING is ever that easy for me.

But YES!!  It worked!  The innards of the drawers were ‘clean’ but they LOOKED dirty due to a poor staining job; so I added some pretty paper on the bottoms to spiff them up a bit.  Now to search for ‘just the right’ new knobs; which entails digging through 8 plastic show boxes of knobs.

Doesn’t it look like a face close up like this!?!  hehe  The knobs don’t exactly match; but are similar enough.   The top two have pewter colored centers and are new reproductions.  The bottom is a vintage knob and back plate with a gold finish.

I painted the whole thing aqua (including the BACK!)  and distressed with my orbital sander.  Pretty quick and easy projects once I got the old knobs off!

OUTDATED                                      UPDATED