Mid Century Modern Dressers

Tall Dresser After

Tall Dresser Before

Sometimes I have no words for the furniture that comes to us. This is one of those times. This was a Kroehler dresser set, a classic mid-century modern set that at its creation was probably very beautiful. Somewhere along the line the original hardware was lost (who knows) and replaced with completely different (not matching) hardware in a different finish. 

The original drawer pulls were the ones on the bottom two drawers, The center drawers had “scoopy” handles which were not at all correct for this period and the top large drawer had four knobs, also not matching. To say the least, this dresser had a bunch of mismatched pulls that simply didn’t work.

Long Dresser After

Long Dresser Before

Our customer wanted these dressers refinished and stained, however we realized that once we started stripping it wasn’t stained originally, but painted with a glaze treatment. Plus, there were broken veneered corners that wouldn’t have looked good if filled in and stained, so we suggested paint, which turned out to be the best option for these pieces. 

As much as we prefer exposing the beautiful wood hidden beneath layers of paint, sometimes it’s not possible because when we get painted pieces, it’s usually for a reason. But occasionally we get painted pieces that have gorgeous wood beneath and it takes on a completely different look once stripped and stained.

For these dressers, once the holes created by all the handles were filled in, sanded and smoothed out, painting covered them and they once again had a classic, clean line look common to the mid-century modern furniture people gravitate to. It had gotten an upgrade that worked great for these pieces. We also worked on two nightstands (not pictured) that were a part of this set but we didn’t get the “after” pictures of them. Then our customers decided to get a headboard painted to match the rest of the furniture so now they have a complete set that all matches. This one turned out great!