IOD Ephemera Dresser

I am so excited to show you this new IOD Ephemera dresser we finished up over the weekend. Remember the one below from early 2018? I think it is my most pinned dresser ever! I forgot to watermark the original one and saw it everywhere online. Someone even shared this photo in a group I am in asking where to buy it. (Watermark Your Photos Guys.) I really loved the way that dresser came out and the group shop I was in at the time had the best walls for staging. I was seriously thinking about keeping it but it sold so fast my head was spinning!

That IOD transfer has long since been retired. Then last Fall……. Drumroll Please… A new transfer came on the scene and it’s a great one for a similar affect. Enter the Label Ephemera Transfer and my new IOD Ephemera Dresser!

Humble Beginnings

The auctioneer on Friday night couldn’t get $25 for this dresser in the shape it was in. I think someone spray painted it. The horrible black paint was super shiny and the whole dresser was covered with paint drips. When I offered $20, it was mine! Why would I do that you ask? “Good Bones” is my reply. The dresser is hardwood. All the drawers are intact and only missing drawer stops which is an easy fix for us. Every drawer had an original lock and although the keys are no longer, the keyholes add a nice touch.

This dresser has many other good features. Tall dressers with 6 drawers aren’t that easy to come by. It has simple classic design everyone would like. The best part of all is the drawers are flat and putting an IOD transfer on will be super easy.

The IOD Ephemera Dresser Journey

Here are some photos of the black dresser I described above so you can see what I meant when I said “tough shape.” I did lots of sanding and lots of dusting! After the outside was all sanded, I painted it with Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in the color Marzipan. When I began to sand the drawers, I realized that at one time they were different colors. Two of the drawers had never been white and two had never been green. Something got into me and I decided to sand back to the raw wood. (A Furniture Flipper Nightmare)

Now that all the paint was gone off the drawers I was ready for a change. The key-holes had made an impression on me and I decided on a industrial look for this IOD Ephemera Dresser. Enter the new hardware from D. Lawless Hardware.

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Saving the Wood

The wood underneath all that paint was beautiful. I had planned on painting this dresser with white drawers like the original one from 2018 but how fun it would be to change it up! Instead I gave the drawers a light white wash with MMSMP color Farmhouse White diluted 3-1. This would allow the wood grain to show through when it was all finished. As you can see from the photos, each drawer had a slightly different wood grain and color. Added to the overall industrial affect in my opinion.

After the paint was dry, (overnight) I sanded to get a smooth finish and on went the Label Ephemera Transfer over the wood finish. (Carefully making sure there was no dust on the piece before I adhered the transfer.) Once the transfer was on, I used Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Wax in clear and antique to finish the look. I put the new hardware on and now you have a brand new IOD Ephemera dresser. My husband is building this backdrop my photos not quite like the last backdrop but I am smitten by this dresser!

Tell me what do you think? Would you go through the hours of paint removal to get this look?