Transforming Vintage Charm: A Waterfall Dresser Rehab Journey
- Maria DeAngelis
- Oct 28
- 4 min read
Hi thrifties, welcome or welcome back, and sorry for the long blog hiatus. Life got incredibly busy when my grandkids moved back in a little over a month ago. But I’m embracing the chaos and cherishing every minute! If you don’t like to wait so long between blog posts, follow me on Facebook and IG for your daily thrift fix!
If you've already seen this, get ready to be excited all over again! Great things deserve a repeat performance, and I'm thrilled to dive deeper into the amazing transformation of this waterfall dresser.
First the history of waterfall furniture:
Back in the ’90s, I worked at a plumbing company that shared a lot line with a gas station. One of the station’s owners also did hauling, and from my office window I had the perfect bird’s-eye view of his finds. Every so often, a few decent pieces would make it to the covered area in front of the station, but most of it ended up piled in the empty lot between our properties—left to weather and rot. I can’t even tell you how many amazing free treasures I rescued from that so-called trash heap! One of my greatest scores came when he hauled in a complete waterfall bedroom set—headboard, footboard, vanity, dressers, the works—and priced the whole thing at just $20 because he needed it gone fast. At the time, I lived in a tiny house and couldn’t take it all, but I convinced him to sell me just the tall dresser for a whopping $6. I was deep in my shabby chic phase, so of course I painted it white, added new knobs, and topped it off with a wooden applique. Not long after, it became my daughter’s dresser—she’s in her late 20s now—and its deep drawers served her beautifully for years. When she moved out, I tucked it away in the attic, a little worn but still solid, where it’s been faithfully storing linens ever since.
When I found out—just a week in advance—that my grandkids were coming back to live with me, I immediately knew this old dresser would be perfect for the boys’ shared room. I turned to Pinterest for inspiration and quickly found a look I wanted to recreate. Normally, I’m the type who paints furniture, so tackling a full strip-and-sand project was definitely outside my comfort zone—but with no time to overthink it, I jumped right in! It had been nearly 30 years since I first painted that dresser, so I had completely forgotten what the original finish even looked like. Revealing the wood beneath was a genuine surprise.
To start, I did a thorough cleaning with my go to cleaner and dried off. I than applied Citristrip and covered the dresser with plastic wrap to keep the surface moist and let the product really soak in before scraping. The key is not to let it dry out—it works best when it stays wet. Interestingly, because of my inexperience when I first painted the piece years ago, some of the paint on a few drawers peeled right off without any stripper at all. My manicure didn’t survive all the picking and peeling, but the effort paid off when I uncovered a beautiful inlay on one of the drawers that might not have made it through a full chemical strip. Totally worth it!
Because I was only stripping the drawers, the process was relatively quick—about two days of applying stripper, letting it sit, and scraping it off. I repeated this cycle twice, but a few stubborn areas of paint still needed sanding. I started the process, and thankfully Mr. Thrifty took over, using my trusty orbital sander with varying grits of sandpaper to get the drawers perfectly smooth, revealing a stunning V-pattern in the wood. The inlaid drawer was left untouched. Fortunately, there was minimal damage to the veneer—which is quite thin, so over sanding can be risky—but I patched the few spots with stainable wood putty and hand-sanded them carefully. Unsure of what stain to use, I applied Restore-A-Finish to bring out the natural beauty of the wood, then sealed everything with Feed n Wax to protect the surface while giving it a soft, subtle sheen.
For the sides, I used some black paint I had leftover from my secretary desk project and finished it with a coat of matte wax. I then reinstalled the silver replacement hardware I had purchased years ago (similar to this), and just like that—the dresser was complete!
If I hadn’t been on such a tight timeline, I would have painted the inner and outer drawer sides and lined them with a fun fabric—like I did for the Spiderman dresser. You can see that transformation by clicking here.
I absolutely love the transformation. It’s both practical and sturdy, built to last another 20+ years with rowdy boys—and best of all, since I already had the materials on hand, the only cost was the dresser itself ($6) and my time!
Link for set below $120!
Waterfall bedroom sets and individual pieces are surprisingly easy to find, and they really shine when modernized with a bit of paint and a touch of creativity. Here are a few I spotted on Marketplace that would make great makeover projects—or leave them as-is and let their vintage charm take center stage, letting your inner “granny chic” flourish!
This beautiful set didn't need refinishing. I spotted it at the Landisville (PA) town wide Labor Day yard sale.⬇️
This complete bedroom set is only $75! ⬆️
So, I'm curious—do you prefer the original that sparked my creativity, or do you think my redo with its fresh elements is more interesting? I'd love to hear your thoughts, as they could really help shape what I do next!
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