Update to my Shabby Chic Dressers

Remember when I sanded, stained and painted these dressers to make them shabby chic?

After

Before

I'm still loving the way they look, but I thought I could make them even better. Once again I drew inspiration from the Petersiks. I adored the sweet surprise of color they added by lining their nursery dresser drawers.

Young House Love's dresser drawers [source]

Adding drawer liners to my bare wood drawers seemed like a fairly simple task that would have a big payoff. Spoiler alert: it worked!

The first thing I needed to do was gather supplies. I found some pretty gift wrapping paper at my local post office. I bought three sheets in different patterns for £1.99 each. I was able to get two drawers out of each paper.

I also found glue at the post office for £1.99. I saw on Pinterest that you can make your own Mod Podge with a simple water and glue mixture. I grabbed a glass jar from my recycling bin and added half glue and half water.

Homemade Mod Podge: half glue; half water

With supplies in hand I was ready to get started. To make life easier, I used printer paper to create a template for my drawers. I used that template to cut out my wrapping paper to size. It's much easier than measuring!

Make a paper template of your drawer

With my paper cut, I brushed a thin layer of my homemade Mod Podge on the drawer. Make sure you brush it on the drawer and not on the bottom of the paper. The paper will get too soggy and it won't stick as well.

Brushing Mod Podge on the drawer

I tried to avoid bubbles and wrinkles by starting in one corner and smoothing it out as I went along. It worked OK, but I think starting in the center and slowly working out might have been better.

Once I had all the paper in the drawers, I let it dry for a few hours. Then I brushed another thin layer of Mod Podge on top. Hopefully this will give it a bit more protection for the long-haul.

Finally the drawers were ready to move back home.

Keen observers might note that the dresser itself got a little shabbier. I decided that they were too chic with not enough shabby, so I went back and sanded some of the edges down. I am very happy with the result. It looks much more distressed and edgy and much less fresh from IKEA.

His and hers dressers

Not bad for a project that cost me £7.96 ($12.91). This was a super easy project that makes a big difference. Why did it take me three months to finally do this?