They Bought Old Wood Furniture for $150 and Stained It Dark Walnut Instead of Painting It
Honey-brown pine, round wooden knobs, and a scratched top gave an old nine-drawer dresser a worn appearance. The piece had carved scrollwork beneath its top, a central cabinet door, and dark knots across the drawer fronts.
Reddit user u/Barnesanator and his wife purchased the dresser and several smaller pieces from local Habitat for Humanity stores for $150. Rather than paint the wood, they chose a dark walnut stain to preserve the grain and carved details.
The couple sanded off the old finish, applied walnut stain, and added two coats of polyurethane, sanding between coats with 400-grit sandpaper. They used tools, stain, and replacement hardware from previous projects and thrift-store finds.
Honey-Brown Pine and Wooden Knobs Covered the Original Dresser
Four drawers sit on each side of the dresser, with a smaller drawer above the central cabinet. Round wooden knobs match the golden-brown finish, while black metal hinges stand out against the cabinet door.
Carved scrollwork runs beneath the projecting top, with shaped cutouts along the bottom rail. Knots and grain patterns appear across the fronts, and the top has scratches, chipped edges, and patches of worn finish.
Worn Finish Covered a $20 Wooden Side Table
The couple also purchased a one-drawer side table with a $20 price sticker on its top. Scratches had worn through the brown finish, leaving pale streaks across the surface.
The table had straight square legs, a rectangular top with rounded edges, and one wooden knob. No decorative carvings or additional storage compartments interrupted its plain design.
Sanding Exposed the Bare Wood Beneath the Old Finish
After sanding, the side table had a pale wood surface from the top down to the legs. The former brown coating was gone, exposing fine grain lines and a few darker marks within the wood.
The drawer front had also been stripped, with a small hole where the wooden knob had been removed. The frame and top retained their original shapes.
Dresser Drawers and Cabinet Door Came Out for Sanding
Nine empty drawer openings expose the dresser’s wooden runners and internal dividers. The central cabinet door has been removed, along with the knobs and other hardware.
The sanded dresser has a pale wood finish, with darker knots remaining across the top and frame. Carved scrollwork above the drawers and the shaped lower rail survived the stripping process.
Two small cabinets sit on the dresser top, while removed doors rest at the right end.
The Furniture Pieces Were Prepared in the Garage
The garage photograph shows the sanded side table, detached drawers, cabinet doors, and smaller storage units arranged across the concrete floor.
Several drawer fronts have flat recessed panels, while others show pronounced wood grain and knots. Removed wooden knobs sit in front of the pieces.
The photograph captures the furniture before stain was applied, with the old coatings stripped from the exposed surfaces.
Walnut Stain Changed the Two-Door Cabinet
The refinished cabinet has two raised-panel doors and a dark brown top. Walnut stain brings out the grain across the door panels, with darker areas around the molded edges.
Brass-toned leaf-shaped handles replace the former hardware. Four short metal legs support the cabinet, with gold-toned feet beneath the dark wood case.
One-Drawer Side Table Received a Walnut Finish
The finished side table has a walnut-brown top with contrasting grain patterns and two lighter strips running from front to back.
A brass-toned decorative drawer pull replaces the wooden knob. The drawer, legs, and surrounding frame share the stained finish, with the wood grain visible across the front.
Two coats of polyurethane protect the stained surfaces, with 400-grit sanding between coats.
Dark Walnut and Brass Hardware Replaced the Honey-Brown Finish
The completed dresser has dark walnut stain across its broad top, carved trim, drawer fronts, cabinet door, and shaped base.
Brass-toned decorative pulls replace the wooden knobs. Each of the eight side drawers has two pulls, while the smaller center drawer has two. A matching handle sits on the cabinet door.
The darker stain emphasizes the knots and flowing grain within the pine, including the patterns across the central door and upper drawers.
From Honey-Brown Pine to Dark Walnut for a $150 Furniture Haul
The before-and-after photographs show the dresser’s color change from golden honey brown to deep walnut. The original carvings, drawer arrangement, central cabinet, and shaped base remain intact, with brass-toned hardware replacing the round wooden knobs.
The couple paid $150 for the furniture collection, not just the dresser. Stain, tools, and hardware came from supplies they had on hand, so the purchase price does not represent the full replacement cost of the refinishing materials.
Would you have stained this old pine dresser dark walnut or kept its honey-brown wood finish?
Image credits go to u/Barnesanator