A Farmhouse Nursery Dresser Makeover

Learn how we transformed a plain old dresser into a bright and colorful farmhouse nursery dresser! This DIY pink dresser tutorial is easy and fun.

It’s amazing what a coat of paint will do!  I can’t wait to share how we transformed a dated, beat-up dresser into a farmhouse nursery dresser.

A 5-drawer pink dresser stands against a white wall. In the upper right corner, an in-laid image of the same dresser painted a plain cream color. Image text reads "A Farmhouse Nursery Dresser Makeover"

There’s no denying the power of paint.  A single coat of paint can transform even the ugliest, most dated piece into something beautiful.

Better yet, it’s probably the easiest and most cost-effective way to transform anything in your home.  A room, a dresser, a picture frame.  Imagine the difference paint can make.

But, I can’t say I’m still not completely shocked by how incredible the dresser for our nursery looks after some paint…

I had been looking on Craigslist for a few weeks for a dresser when I came across this beauty…

DIY Pink Nursery Dresser: Before Pictures

A 5-drawer dresser painted a plain cream color with ornate metal handles on each drawer.
A closer look at the handles on an old thrifted dresser. The dresser is painted cream and the metal handles have been painted teal blue.

And I mean beauty both seriously and sarcastically.  It is obviously seen better days.  

The old green or yellowish green color (puke color?) with the blue pulls straight from the 90s doesn’t make it outwardly beautiful.

But, I didn’t see that. I saw its shape. The pretty arch at the bottom, the small piece chipped from the top left drawer,  the random marks, and gauges on its surface.  Oh, if furniture could talk!  Imagine where this piece had been!

I knew as soon as I saw it in person it would be perfect for our farmhouse nursery.  We paid $60 USD for it, which was admittedly more than I wanted to spend.  But, it’s a solid wood piece with plenty of storage that we can use for years to come.

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DIY Pink Dresser Makeover: How to Update a Thrifted Dresser

We used spackling paste to fill in some of the bigger gauges on the top of the dresser.  

After it dried, we sanded the whole dresser down (especially focusing on the parts where we had used the spackling paste).

With the sanding, we were just trying to get a smooth surface and remove any grim and sealer from the surface. We weren’t necessarily trying to sand off all of the previous layers of paint and get down to raw wood. That isn’t necessary.

A close up image of the top drawer of an old thrifted dresser. The drawer handle has been removed and there's white spackle covering some gauges in the drawer surface. The dresser has been sanded down, revealing some of the natural wood color underneath.
A 5-drawer dresser in the process of a DIY makeover. The drawer handles have been removed, there's spots of white spackle on the drawers, and the cream paint has been sanded down to show some of the natural wood tones underneath.

Once it was sanded, it was ready to be painted!

Farmhouse Nursery Design Plans

I talked a bit about the color decision in the design plan and Instagram, but, I was so torn about what color to paint it.

Most of the nursery was neutral.  The rug, the crib, the rocker, the curtains.  Even the shiplap wall was a creamy off-white (Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams).

A white shiplap wall with a single electrical outlet. The outlet has a black plate cover.
A grey nursery rocking chair in front of a white background.
An ornate vintage tan and black area rug with detailed floral design.
A white wooden crib with a white mattress in front of a white background.
White linen curtains hang on a black curtain rod in front of a white background.

I wanted to go bold.  Which is terrifying to me when it comes to choosing paint.  I like to stick to anything gray.

After narrowing it down to two shades of pink (moss rose and rose embroidery)….

A solid square of color - a dark pink mauve paint color called "moss rose"
moss rose
A solid square of color - a light, dusty mauve pink called "rose embroidery"
rose embroidery

The Finished Product: DIY Pink Dresser for Our Farmhouse Nursery

I actually went with the darker of the two … MOSS ROSE!!

You guys, I was seriously so nervous to see what this color would look like on the dresser.  Would I hate it?  

Could it be painted a gray color over the dark pink after I inevitably freaked over the boldness of the color?

Well, much to my surprise, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the color.

A freshly painted DIY pink dresser painted a darker mauve pink color. Each dresser has a white knob handle.

It looks so perfect against the creamy walls and new shiplap wall we just installed.

A side view of the DIY pink nursery dresser, freshly painted a dark mauve color with new knob drawer handles. The dresser is up against a plain white wall. In the background, there is a white shiplap wall.

Of course, I traded out the tired blue handles with some rustic knobs I found at Hobby Lobby (for 50% off, seriously don’t buy knobs unless they’re on sale).

A closer look at the new knob handles on the mauve pink dresser drawers. Each handle knob is white with bits of the original dark metal finish visible through white paint.

I went back and forth on whether I wanted to sand it down after painting.  This would have given it a more distressed look, similar to this furniture project.  

I decided not to in the end.  But, I don’t have a particularly good reason as to why I chose not to distress it except I loved how it looked after painting 🙂

A complete look at the finished DIY pink dresser makeover! The five-drawer dresser is painted a dark mauve pink color, and each drawer has new white round knob handles.
A side-angled view of the updated DIY pink dresser, painted a bold mauve pink. Each dresser drawer has a white knob handle.

Want more nursery updates? Check out these posts:

I am SO happy with the dresser makeover.  I could not picture it looking better than it does.

Do you think you could go bold with a furniture makeover?  Or are you a gray kinda girl, too 🙂

Wishing you a joyful day!

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11 Comments

  3. The color turned out great and you didi pick a perfect piece! Lines and solid wood are the most important details for me when choosing furniture to makeover.

    Reply

  5. The dresses really turned out beautiful! I’m usually not a big fan auf pink either, but actually painted my baby’s changing table pink also. Well, the dresser, that we converted into a changing table, was actually painted long before we knew we’d have a girl. 😉
    XO! Vanessa

    Reply
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