Highboy

I finished the highboy dresser today.  

I am going to recap by hitting the high points.

First, preparation:

I cleaned all the dirt out from inside the dresser.

Strangely enough, I felt sentimental toward the dust, knowing that some of it had to be from the wheat fields of Hansford County, where I grew up.  Well, I didn't grow up IN the wheat fields, but still, a little sentimental.

Having already finished some of the other pieces in this collection, I "used my prior knowledge" (that is a Carly-ism.)  Finding two-pronged pulls the same width as the old ones would be impossible. I filled some of the holes with spackle.  There was probably a more appropriate substance for wood-patching.  Sue me.  I like spackle.

  Like I always say, "Goes on pink - dries white!"

Then I painted two coats of oil-based black paint directly on the wood, without priming or sanding.  The truth is, the wood was so old and basically already bare.  It was begging for paint.

Next, after purchasing pulls, I had to drill new holes for the two-prongers (that's the technical term, a-hem, I am sure.)

I used this here marks-a-lot.

I colored the prongs with the marker, then used it as a stamp onto the paper.

See the little marks?  Now I have a stencil.

I used this paper as a stencil to mark where I needed to drill.  Thanks to my expert drilling skills and extreme patience, this step was both easy and enjoyable.*
*Sidebar - I may or may not have accidentally drilled the holes cock-eyed on a drawer and had to re-patch and re-paint and re-drill so as not to have a slanted pull. 

It's not this shiny and lacquered up in person.

Here it is in the room.

And there you have it!*
*Sidebar 2- I may or may not have brought the dresser in too soon, which resulted in wet oil based black paint on the new carpet.  If said event did take place, you may rest assured that I did get the paint out of the carpet.