She Found Her Father-in-Law’s Childhood Dresser With Dinosaur Stickers and Turned It Into a Floral Chest in One Afternoon
Dinosaur stickers still covered the wooden knobs of a five-drawer dresser found in an attic. The piece had belonged to its owner’s father-in-law when he was a child, and scribbles from those years remained across the top. Worn turquoise paint covered the cabinet, with dark streaks across the drawer fronts and marks around the old handles.
Instead of stripping the dresser or replacing the blue finish, she decided to work with what was there. Flowers would replace the childhood decorations, while new knobs, gold corner details, and a wood-look top would change its appearance.
Reddit user u/antisocialcuttlefish shared the project on r/FurnitureFlip after receiving the dresser from her in-laws. Removing the old hardware, covering the top, and decorating the drawers took one afternoon.
Dinosaur Stickers Covered the Original Drawer Knobs
Five wide drawers filled the tall wooden cabinet, each with two round handles. Dinosaur stickers remained attached to the top pair, while the other knobs had been painted blue to match the frame.
Horizontal molding ran beneath the projecting top, and a curved cutout formed the base. Darker paint showed through the turquoise finish across the drawer fronts, with worn edges around the raised panels.
Removing the Ten Knobs Left Bare Spots on the Drawers
Once the old handles came off, pale circles appeared around the mounting holes. Some patches were larger than the knobs, exposing wood beneath the existing blue paint.
Rather than sand the entire dresser, she painted those exposed areas to blend them into the drawer fronts. The original distressed finish remained across the cabinet.
Blue Paint Covered the Marks From the Old Hardware
Fresh turquoise paint covered the pale circles, leaving small holes for the replacement knobs. Broad strokes followed the grain and existing marks rather than creating a uniform painted surface.
The darker blue streaks remained visible across the five drawers, preserving the appearance of the original finish.
Childhood Scribbles Disappeared Beneath a Wood-Look Top
Marks left on the dresser during its owner’s childhood were still visible across the upper surface. Instead of repainting the top blue, she covered it with wood-grain contact paper.
The brown finish introduced a contrast above the turquoise frame, with horizontal grain running across the surface. Its original projecting edge and molded border remained in place.
Flowers Began Spreading Across Four of the Five Drawers
Rub-on transfers introduced pink roses, yellow blossoms, blue flowers, and lavender-colored stems to the right side of the chest.
She began with small flowers on the second drawer, then built larger arrangements across the three drawers below it. The flowers cross the gaps between the fronts without covering the entire blue surface.
The top drawer remained free of floral transfers.
Colorful Knobs Replaced the Dinosaur Stickers
Ten patterned knobs took the place of the original wooden handles. Each features a different combination of bright colors and flower-inspired designs, adding red, yellow, green, orange, and blue against the turquoise paint.
Small gold-colored corner ornaments were fitted to the raised drawer panels. With the new hardware attached, the flower transfers extended behind several knobs on the lower four drawers.
Four Drawers Now Share One Floral Arrangement
Pink roses, purple blossoms, yellow flowers, and blue hydrangea-like clusters form a design across the right half of the cabinet.
The arrangement grows from a few small flowers near the second drawer into larger groups across the lower fronts. The left side retains broad areas of the original blue paint, preventing the flowers from covering every panel.
Wood-Look Top and Gold Corners Finish the Dresser
Brown wood-grain contact paper covers the scribbled top, while small gold ornaments decorate the corners of each drawer panel. Close-up views show pink roses, purple blossoms, and yellow flowers beside the patterned knobs, with darker blue brush marks still visible beneath the transfers.
One Afternoon Changed Her Father-in-Law’s Childhood Dresser
Finished dresser retains its five drawers, curved base, and worn turquoise paint. Floral transfers spread across the lower four drawers, leaving the top drawer without flowers.
Comparing the before-and-after photos shows how the dinosaur-sticker knobs, childhood scribbles, and plain drawer fronts gave way to patterned hardware, a wood-look top, and floral decoration without stripping the original paint.
Would you have preserved the dinosaur stickers from its childhood history or replaced them with the floral design?
Image credits: Reddit / u/antisocialcuttlefish, r/FurnitureFlip