This post has been a long time in coming! If you have a really good memory, you might remember that we bought this dresser back in June, and I started refinishing it at that time. If you're interested you can read
Part 1...
Part 2...
and Part 3 of this saga...
Those posts detail how I cleaned and restored the piece to it's former glory. Between those posts and now, summer happened. A couple of weeks ago after I got home from my last trip, I knew it was time to finish this project!
When we bought the dresser the framed mirror that rests on the top of the dresser was a mess. It had been jury rigged, and incorrectly "fixed" many times, so this is where we spent most of our time in restoring this piece. We repaired the obvious, and some not-so-obvious, problems. Then I restored the frame the same way I refinished and restored the dresser. A beautiful new beveled mirror replaced the corroded old one. Then it came time to hang the mirror in the newly restored oak frame. The former owner(s) had attached the mirror to the frame with makeshift brackets...
What's more, they hadn't hung the mirror straight, so it tilted on the frame. It was a mess. We bought some new swivel brackets and mounted them on the mirror and frame...
The last step was to mount the frame onto the back of the dresser -- easy...
This dresser now sits in a newly painted and redecorated room. I love the intricate carvings and curved lines of the framed mirror pared with the straight lines of the mission style dresser. So beautiful...
We were lucky to find a dresser that still had all original hardware...
I think I was fortunate to pay $130 for this beautiful dresser. It cost another $100 to replace the old mirror with a new beveled one. {crazy} All in all, it was a great project, and I'm so happy with the results of this antique piece.
