Just how many projects can I create by upcycling one old chest of drawers? I bought these old drawers below from Vintage Mischief in their seasonal sale a couple of years ago. The unit doesn’t look too bad from this photo but the frame was already falling apart and some of the drawers were missing bases or backs. Nonetheless, I liked the style of the drawers and I already had a project or two in mind…
BEDSIDE CABINET
I needed a small bedside cabinet for my spare bedroom when I spotted these drawers for sale for a few pounds. I had already made DIY bedside cabinets for my bedroom using Mid Century-style drawers so I knew we would be able to build something ourselves. The small top drawers in this chest have just the right level of rustic-ness for my Arts and Crafts-style guest room so I set about transforming a drawer into a bedside cabinet. Here’s the project so you can see how to create a bedside table from a drawer yourself.
UNDERBED STORAGE
My most recent upcycling project was turning old drawers into handy underbed storage for toys, shoes, books or anything else you need to stow away. I actually used a spare drawer from the mid-century unit alongside the drawers from the big wooden chest of drawers and made them look similar by adding oversize handles on the fronts. Here’s the full project if you’d like to see step-by-step photos of making these sliding underbed storage drawers.
HALLWAY CONSOLE TABLE
The larger sized drawers were mostly bottomless so I was only able to save one drawer, which I decided to use in a hallway console table. The outside frame was made using offcuts of scaffold boards that I had left over from my garden benches project. I loved the style of the bedside cabinet so much that I wanted to replicate the design with my console table. So I used left over grey paint on the chunky frame and chose tall black oak legs that I bought online to finish off the project. Here’s my guide to making a DIY console table.
So I still have some drawer fronts left (with broken backs and missing bases) and some wood from the sides so I’m sure these odds and ends will end up in another upcycling project soon – even if it’s just more shelves for my home office! Let me know if you have a go at making any of these projects for yourself and I’d love to see photos so please tag me in your pics on Instagram @cassiefairy.
PIN IT FOR LATER
