Drexel-Heritage Dressers Jump Into 21st Century

Drexel Heritage Dresser Before

You never know what treasures you'll find at an estate or garage sale. When searching for used furniture, look at the "bones." If it's structurally sound, the rest can be fixed and refinished, revealing a classic, beautiful piece of furniture that is hard to come by. This was a great example of how very important it is to choose the right hardware for any project, as the hardware really makes a piece of refinished furniture shine.

This proved to be a challenging, yet very rewarding job for a client who had purchased these dressers at an estate sale. They were of excellent quality, name-brand furniture, Drexel-Heritage, in great condition, however, my client wanted to get an updated look for these classic pieces, bringing them into the 21st Century.

Drexel Heritage Dresser After

The challenge was twofold; stripping the old stain from two different types of wood and making the new stain blend, as well as replacing the original outdated hardware with new hardware she had selected, that didn't fit the original holes. Not until we had finished stripping the dressers did we realize that the bronze colored hardware she had originally given us wouldn't work. The drawer pulls didn't line up with the surface of the drawers causing the ends of the handles to stick up.

Antique Dry Sink

Antique Dry Sink After

Antique Dry Sink Before

Last summer in 2012, we found this antique dry sink at a yard sale just down the street. My husband had seen it on his way back from the store and told me about it. Shortly after hearing about it, I went to the yard sale and brought it home.

It had belonged to the owner's grandmother and at some point, was converted from a dry sink. A high-quality Koehler sink had been installed which was in excellent condition. There were holes were the original faucet was, but it had been removed. I saw the potential and immediately envisioned a dark stain to replace the faded golden oak. We upgraded the tarnished brass handles with nickel hardware and bought a new nickel faucet.