Nursery Progress: Lining Our Dresser Drawers
On Tuesday we shared how we refinished a Craigslist dresser for the nursery, taking it from this…
… to this:
So now we’re back with all the dirty drawer lining details as promised. This project actually only set us back around $1.30 because we already had everything on hand that we needed except for two foam craft brushes which we picked up at Michael’s for around sixty-five cents a pop. Our other already-owned project materials were Mod Podge and six sheets of wrapping paper (given to us by friends who founded this awesome local paper shop called Ink + Paper). And just for fun we selected three different patterns to use inside of our six 50+ year old drawers to give them a totally fresh look and a nice clean texture (as opposed to the raw wood that they came with).
We were lucky that the drawers were pretty clean (nothing a wipe down with a moist rag couldn’t remedy) and there wasn’t any musty smell or sticky stain to be found. But if you’re dealing with a slightly grosser old drawer scenario (like mustiness and odor that slaps you in the face every time you open a drawer) we’ve heard that wiping them down with mineral spirits and letting them sit out in the sun or air out in the garage for a bit might do the trick. Murphy’s Oil Soap is also said to be one of the best ways to thoroughly clean wood drawers that are past their prime to rid them of any stains or smells. And as extra credit you can place bowl of fresh ground coffee inside of each drawer to absorb any lingering odor afterwards (we’ve also heard that bowls of untreated charcoal briquettes work the same way). Gotta love a cheap and natural solution like that.
Anyway, here are four of our potential patterns that we laid out over the lip of our crib to evaluate as a group. We actually opted to use the three boldest ones twice (since we had six drawers to line) so each drawer would have a punchy little surprise inside. This meant that we had to eliminate one pattern so after a bit of deliberation we settled on two drawers with the orange bubble pattern, two with the green birdie design and two with the bright blue flowered paper. We figure that they’ll never all be open at the same time so it’ll hardly be overwhelming and we liked the idea of Baby P pulling open each drawer when she’s older to see something fun and graphic while she’s grabbing a pair of socks or putting away her crayons.
So after selecting our six sheets of wrapping paper (in three different patterns) it was time to cut each of our six sheets down to the size of the drawers (luckily they were all the same size so we cut one out and just used it as a template to quickly snip out the other five. Then we just had to decide how to adhere our “drawer liners.” Initially we debated using some simple double stick tape to hold the paper down around the edges, which probably would have worked just fine. But after a bit of thought we realized that we wanted something a little more heavy duty (that could take a bit of a beating for the next 15+ years and still look pretty good).
So that’s when we settled on Mod Podge. We recently used it to create “vintage” sign art for our bathroom, so we know how well it holds up to moisture and general wear & tear (thanks to the protective coating that you can apply right on top of any sort of paper to make it a lot more durable than it was before). The first step was not to Mod Podge over the paper though, it was to apply a thin and even coat of the stuff to the bottom of the drawer so that our pre-sized pieces of gift wrap could be securely adhered.
We always go for the “matte” kind of Mod Podge because we’ve found that it cures up more solidly and never feels tacky or sticky after it fully dries (usually within a few hours) so that should help keep the drawers from feeling grippy and tacky even in the warmer months. So after we slicked that onto the bottom of the dresser it was as easy as sticking down our already-cut-to-size gift wrap rectangle and pressing it along the center and out towards all of the corners to eliminate any bubbles or wrinkling. Note: we did not apply Mod Podge to the back of the paper, only to the bottom of the drawer.
I then worked my way around each of the other drawers, applying the Mod Podge to the base of the drawer and sticking down each pre-cut rectangle of gift wrap. Oh and the reason I didn’t go right to applying a layer of Mod Podge over the first wrapping paper swatch after it was stuck down was because I wanted to give it ample drying time before moistening the front of the paper and possibly causing bubbles or wrinkles. In fact, I gave all of the drawers about four hours to fully dry before applying that top coat of Mod Podge over the paper for added protection.
I was sure to apply the top coat evenly and thinly (not too gloppily so as to avoid wrinkles and bubbles). And after letting them dry overnight, we were left with durable and cheerful lined drawers that should last for the long haul (while providing a little dose of happy every time they’re opened). Oh and we love that Mod Podge is 100% water based and non-toxic so it’s not going to stink up our baby clothes or pollute the nursery like some other more chemical-ish sealers might. Good times.
So there you have our under-two-dollar drawer lining adventure. We’d definitely suggest looking around your house for anything from decorative scrapbooking paper and gift wrap (even tissue paper) to swatches of wallpaper or even flash cards or playing cards to create your very own custom drawer liners on the cheap. Mod Podge + pretty much anything that’s flat = interesting drawers that make you smile every time you slip them open. And you could even line drawers with old swatches of fabric, we would just use dots of fabric glue or even glue gun dabs on the back of each piece to hold them down as opposed to Mod Podge.
What about you guys? Have you lined any drawers with something that you already had around the house? Or even hit up Target or the dollar store for festive paper with just that purpose in mind? We’d love to know if you’ve added some unexpected personality to the inside of a dresser or cabinet so spill the drawer lining beans.
Psst- Wanna see our nursery progress from the very beginning? Here’s our painting post, our big shopping spree, our crib hunting rundown, our curtain-making tutorial, our fun little chair search, our mirror-painting extravaganza, this DIY faux sheepskin project, and our big dresser makeover. Fun, fun, fun.
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Comments
That dresser came out amazing!! I love the dark tone. The paper inside is super cute too!
Thanks Sherry! I think I’m going to take the magazine holder project on. I have never use mod podge before. Do you think I would do the same process that you did with the drawers? put on the magazine holder first, let dry, then put more mod podge on top of the paper? And the last question, where do you buy mod podge? I’m from Long Island. Micheal’s or AC Moore? Now I just have to find pretty wrapping paper to work with. And Ikea has the cardboard ones cheap too, so it wouldn’t be that expensive of a project. ;-) I love DIY. And I sure will send pictures to you guys. Thanks!
Yup, that process should work perfectly. Just be sure to get the matte kind and not the glossy one (we find it dries better). And you can get it at Michael’s. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This looks great, as does the entire nursery. While reading, it struck me that this may be something I could use in kitchen cabinets? What do you think? I have a 70′s kitchen and am trying to freshen it up – changing hardware and a good scrubbing of the outside (I hate the thought of painting wood) but the interiors are kind of yukky and the shelf liner doesn’t stay in place.
Oh yeah, you could definitely use this method to line your kitchen cabinets! Of course if you’re selling your house in a year or so you might want to opt for something less permanent (like Mod Podging the paper to cardboard and dropping that onto each shelf). But it’s definitely a nice little added bonus to freshen up your kitchen (and it’s easy to wipe down if you apply a few extra coats of Podge on top of the paper for long lasting durability). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I don’t comment all that often, but I just have to say that this project is amazing! You guys did a great job with the dresser makeover! I love the dark stain and the crispy white top! Fantastic, it’s so inspiring…
Looks fantastic guys. When my siblings and I were babies, my mom lined our dresser drawers with wrapping paper from our baby presents and our first birthdays… I still have that vintage wrapping paper in perfect condition in my old dresser! It makes me smile and think of my Mom as a young mother every time I open the drawers. I think I’ll have to carry on the tradition when we have little ones. Anyway, I just thought I’d share a different take on your adorable project. Keep having fun!
So cute! Maybe I would look forward to puting the clothes away if I had all my dresser drawers so cutely lined…doubt it;-)
I love this! Please e-mail me if I can post on my Mod Podge blog! modpodgerocks (at) gmail.com. Thank you!!
Great project. After my baby shower I kept some of the best wrapping paper on my gifts. Yes I was a bit anal about it! But then I lined the baby’s drawers with my favorites. The paper then had sentimental value and reminded me of that fun day and all the well wishes that came with it. It was also a nice way to acknowledge my friends and family that put so much time into wrapping beautiful gifts! I still love my drawer paper and my son is now four! As usual, a fun project from you both! Thanks.
I love the paper you picked out!! Looks great! Last summer I lined my nursery’s dresser and closet drawers with thin foamcore wrapped in fabric…I just cut the foamcore to the size of the inside of the drawer…wrapped the fabric around, securing it with masking tape and set them in the drawers. I like to change things up quite often, so I didn’t want something permanent! I’ll take some pictures and send them to you soon. :)
Wow! I just found your blog and am so excited to see that you’re doing similar colors in your nursery as I’m doing in mine! :) I’m having a boy in April and LOVE the aqua/limey combo. Check out my blog when you have a sec…I’m certainly no DIYer like you guys are…but I try a bit! :) Can’t wait to see the finished product!
P.S. LOVE the paper with birds on it…I have a bit of a nest/bird theme going in my nursery…
omg i love what you guys did. it looks awesome. gives me hope for a new diyer like me :D btw i love your blog. it’s like an addiction. i must check it at least 5 times a day for updates. keep it up.
I lined a sideboard I found in a junk shop with some wallpaper from the Laura Ashley seconds bin for £1. It made a big difference to the finished piece. Pics are here.
http://skirtsandwellies.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-addition.html
Your cute idea caught the eyes of this website.
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/decorative-accessories-pillows/lining-drawers-110472
Love the papers! I need to get me some Mod Podge I think.
I lined our kitchen cabinets with wallpaper, but I just stuck it down with double-sided tape, since it doesn’t get wear. Best part was I got the wallpaper scraps for free from a garage sale. I asked the lady at the sale how much she wanted for this bag of wallpaper and she said “Please! Just take it! Get it off my hands!” So I did. Considering how much they expect you to pay for real shelf paper, I was pretty proud of that find.
The Mod Podge is such a great idea! Is there anything it can’t do? Thanks for the details, I’ll be linking to this.
I love the idea of hidden surprises in furniture. If the dresser were whimsically painted one might expect a fun touch inside, but with the classy stain all the more unexpected.
And the colorful, graphic patterns will help wake you up when you are changing a dirty onesie at two in the morning (trust me).
Fun!
Great job! That piece is very reminiscent of a buffet I made over last year with, yep you guessed it, paint. Instead of lining the drawers with mod podge and wrapper paper though, I just used contact paper. And since it was going to be used for feeding animals on, I topped it with a piece of plexiglass for easy cleaning. You can see my entire process and the contact paper I chose here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ornerypuss/tags/buffet/
I just love these drawer liners! I love Modpodge and I love doing different stuff with wrapping paper-so underutilized in my opinion! (I just did a post on different ways to use it over on my blog The Cozy Green Cocoon.) This is such a great idea I posted a pic and a link to your post here-hope thats okay!Thanks for the inspiration (= We’re expecting our first little one in September-can’t wait to try this out in our nursery!
Super cute! I recently re-acquired my childhood dresser from my mom’s house, and lo and behold it still has it’s {now very retro} wrapping paper liner in it.
I’m in the process of painting a bathroom vanity that previously had ugly dark stain and scuff marks, and I love your clever drawer liner idea. I have some scrapbook paper that I bought just because it had a cute vintage print, but since I don’t scrapbook, I haven’t used it. Now it will have a purpose in life. Thanks for the tips!
Love it! Did you put a matte top coating (its a spray you can use ontop of mod podge) or just the mod podge?
We used the matte finished Mod Podge as the top coating to seal everything and keep it nice and durable. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Very pretty! Are you selling this dresser?
Wondering if you’ve ever worked with fabric? How does ModPodge handle fabric?
I have a TON of fabric I would line the drawers with!
Tumaini Rivera
http://www.flippinfactory.wordpress.com
Hey Tumaini,
Nope, it’s definitely not for sale- we made it for our little girl’s nursery and can’t wait for her to grow up with this cool reinvented piece of furniture that’s over 50 years old. As for how fabric handles Mod Podge, unless it’s super thin it’s probably best to use something like fabric starch or fabric glue to line dressers that way (since Mod Podge is best for thin items like paper). Just hit up your local craft store and ask what material would work best to hold fabric in place for drawer lining. You might just be able to use four dots of glue at the corners of each rectangle of fabric to hold them in place on the bottom of each drawer. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This is soooo inspiring! I am excited to do this. :-) I think I’ll do my dresser drawers and everything else in the house like shelves. :D
What a great surprise when you open the dresser drawers! And I love the wrapping paper because it provides a nice, bright pop of color! I just started following your blog and I’m loving reading about all of your projects. How inspiring!
I’ve been redoing a dresser for my son (coming soon, in November!) and the owner (got it off craigslist) smoked, so I had read online to seal it with poly. Problem being, 2 months later, it still reeks like poly! I’ve tried all the natural solutions to getting the poly stink out for 2 months now, vinegar in small bowls (for like 3 weeks, nothing), charcoal drawer liners, coffee, etc. Still stinks. Do you think if I tried lining the bottoms with paper, then mod podging the ENTIRE drawer (paper and all) would de-stink it any? Thoughts? Just found your website, had I found it earlier, I might not have a stink issue due to Safecoat! :)
Hmm, we’re not quite sure. Our best advice would be to sit it out in the sun on a long hot day (heat causes things to offgas faster, hopefully getting rid of that stink more quickly for you). So as annoying as it is to drag it out into the middle of the driveway or the backyard, just set it outside on a couple of sunny hot days (the more the better). We’re not sure the mod podge would de-stink it at all, so that’s our best suggestion. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I love this project, and I love your choice of paper!
I’ve lined drawers in the kitchen with laminated paper and have lined dresser drawers with scented paper, but I had not thought of doing it with giftwrap.
I love it!
My daughter and I are going to do this project too!
As usual, thank you for a doable project and thank you for your great taste!