Before we purchased our "fixer upper" home, my husband and I were managers of a small apartment complex near a local college. We managed the apartments there for almost 4 years before we had saved up enough to purchase our first (and current) home.

One of the benefits to being the managers was checking out what our renters left behind after they moved. We collected a few pieces of furniture over the few years we were there and one of the best ones we ever found was a beautiful, solid wood, HEAVY, dresser. We used it in our tiny master bedroom before moving out here. It has 6 drawers on the sides, and three drawers in the middle door. It's old and beautiful.

But, over the years the top part, which was laminate, was starting to peel off. One of the sides had built in tie/belt hooks ... that we never used. It needed a little TLC. So, when I decided to redo our master bedroom, I also decided this dresser needed an overhaul.