A dove and a moose walk into a bar. Just kidding, not a bar. That’s not kid-room appropriate. How about a dove and a moose walk onto a playground? Anyway, I’ll just cut to the chase. We finally found a dresser for Clara’s big girl room, complete with dovetailed joints! Hence the mention of a dove (ah, they don’t make ’em like they used to).
We wanted one for the playroom/ big girl room for Clara once she moves in there (so that eventual-second-child can use Clara’s original dresser since it works so well as a changing table in the nursery). And that way we’re not undoing one room to redo another room, which always feels counter productive. Plus nine more drawers worth of storage in our house = jackpot. Especially when it’s taking the place of an old room full of clutter, which used to be what this space was.
It was a pretty great secondhand score thanks to Sir Craig And His List (craigslist for those not down with my dorktastic lingo). For just $50 we’re the proud owners of this nine drawer dresser. As for how we found it, we just searched “dresser” on craigslist in our area a few times a week (maybe once a week if I forgot) for about a month and then finally this guy came up:
Our only real requirements were something from a non-smoking household (that’s a hard scent to remove), something with at least six drawers like Clara’s nursery dresser which has worked out so well for us (nine is a total bonus!), and something long as opposed to tall (since we figure as she grows she can reach these drawers and get dressed herself more easily than she would with a tallboy since she might not be able to reach all those upper drawers).
After we got it into the room, we tried the daybed and the dresser on a few different walls and preferred the dresser right to the left of the door as you enter the room (it’s a lot shallower than the daybed, which sticks into the room quite a bit, so we liked that on the back wall with the dresser across from it).
And here’s the other side of the room to help you get your bearings:
Oh but our new dresser’s not in perfect condition…
… so we’re planning to either refinish it or paint it depending on how the room evolves around it. We don’t want to rush into anything so it’s easiest to do what we call sticking & moving. We drop it in place in the room and just keep on adding other elements that we need in here (a rug, window treatments, art, a new light fixture, etc) and we’re sure at some point it’ll become a lot more clear if we want to refinish it in a deep wood tone, paint it a moody navy, or go snowy white with it. Who knows, we might end up somewhere else entirely! No matter what we decide, you know we’ll keep you posted!
But where does the moose come in? Remember the estate sale light that I sprayed ceramic-animal-white back here? Boom, moose.
I promised you guys a shot of him with his final lampshade on, so there you have it. Remember the fabric-covered shade was a book project (#182) so we couldn’t share it until the book was out but now that it’s out, I’m all about it. We used fabric leftover from Clara’s monthly picture to recover a shade that we already had, and I actually used the back side of the fabric (I’m a huge fan of using a fabric backwards to mute it down a little).
So now you’ve basically seen one wall of the room starting to come together. Can’t wait to hang something over the dresser. Hint: it’s not going to be frames or “traditional” art. We’ll share pics as soon as we have it done! Hopefully Wednesday (we’re on a plane all day today coming back from the West Coast, but we have a giant to-do list that we hope to tackle tomorrow and then shoot and share things as soon as we can).
Oh and you’ve already seen the daybed on the other side of the room, but just for fun I thought I’d toss this picture in here too so you can see how the upholstered lamp shade “plays” with the pillows and blanket. It’s looking pretty happy in there. And I can’t wait to add some other colors like navy and teal and yellow. Soon I hope!
In the meantime, who’s the cutest fake sleeper you know? Does her name start with a C and end with a lara?
What are you guys searching/eying/buying on craigslist? Any other furniture sources that you love? Do you know any dove/moose related jokes? Did any of you guys go thrifting this weekend for the ol’ Macklemore Challenge? Thanks so much for all the fun we had with that on Friday. Can’t wait to see what you guys scored!
heather says
I really enjoy seeing how your style seems to be evolving a little bit, by bringing in older pieces that might be a little more “traditional” by nature and yet, how you blend them right into your modern/fun style. I think this piece could work so well in a variety of design preferences, and I love that you’re planning on painting it. I can totally see it being a bright red glossy focal piece of the room.
LARY@ Inspiration Nook says
Awesome find. Can’t wait to see what you guys do with it!
Beth says
Richmond’s craigslist is really good! Color me jealous. I know yall are patient & diligent with the process, but not all areas have that quality of inventory at those prices. What a great find, Congrats!
Jenny @ We G Three says
MOOSE with a MOOSE on it!
You guys have the best Craigslist over there. Love that dresser, and I can’t wait to see Clara’s big girl room finished! Also, that paint chip art is totally on my to-do list of projects from your book!
Kathryn says
That looks just like the dresser we got for my daughter’s room. Her’s went teal with purple handles, can’t wait to see how you do yours.
Meagan {Green Motherhood} says
I’ve been on Craig and his list everyday to find a dresser for Isla June’s big girl room. Love the one you found!
Krista says
I loooove the moose lamp but in the pictures (specially the first two) it barely stand out! maybe its just the photos but I’d be awfully tempted to paint that sucker red… or orange… or pink…. or red orange and pink ombre…..
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah in pics he’s much flatter than real life. In person he’s awesome and very easy to see.
xo,
s
Susan says
Nice grab. I get free dressers and cabinets from Craigslist, then paint and sell them, so I have two possible recommendations.
1.) Behr Alkyd oil paint in “Bittersweet Chocolate.” does amazing things to furniture.
2.) Cream colored dresser with ORB spray paint top surface of dresser. This color combination is an instant seller every time and looks so good.
Have fun!
Leila says
Love that dresser! I’m a new convert to Kijiji here in Canada, recently found a rug, a chandelier, a dining room table & a fabulous sofa. I love your tips for how to buy from online sellers.
Did I miss something? Is that a paint chip, ombré, chevron, DIY art piece on the dresser? Awesome!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes we made that for the book, so the whole tutorial is in there :)
xo,
s
Heather says
Just a quick question – what is the art on the dresser? Did you guys do that yourselves? I like it, and if there was a dyi post about it already I’d love it if you could point me that way. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s some DIY art we made for the book with paint chips. The whole tutorial is in there :)
xo,
s
anna see says
Love it! I found a very similar one curbside w/ a terrible faux finishing paint job. Repainted it a putty color and sold it on craig’s list. Such a perfectly proportioned dresser!
Sarah H says
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I JUST read this post (http://lovelightlaughterandchocolate.blogspot.ca/2012/12/life-goes-on-how-to-celebrate-in-times.html?m=1) and it has really made me think about all of our furniture being safe for kids – furniture wall anchors are now a must for even the ‘small’ things! I know this may be something you already had planned, but it never hurts to mention it!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes we anchor everything and have blogged about our method (we use anchors from anazon.com) many times. Such a tragedy. Thanks for spreading the word!
xo,
s
Antonella Guidi says
I write in this post just for say that: YOUR BOOK IS IN MY HANDS!! (how you can see here: http://sferruzz.blogspot.it/2013/01/buoni-propositi-per-il-2013come.html )
I like it! I like the project #055 obviusly XD “Farfalle”, “fettuccine” and “penne” are the same name in italian; “angel hair” is the exact translation (capelli d’angelo); you call “marcaroni” the italian “gramigna” and “rotini” the italian “fusilli” ^^ So, now I know that to ask in USA if I want a specific pasta XD
Now I have to decide that project to do first ^^
Sorry, sorry, sorry for my English (and for too much emoticon, ehm….)
Kiss from Italy ^*^
Baci dall’Italia ^*^
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha I love it! So glad you have the book!
xo,
s
lesismore says
totally dorktastic. your wording, not the dresser. the dresser is amazing. you always seem to find the best scores!
i do love that you let a piece sit in the space for a while before altering it. sometimes it takes me months to figure out exactly how i want to “re-vamp” an item.
when i get around to doing whatever it is i’m doing with our FREE sideboard, i’ll shoot you an email with before and afters. it’s pretty rough too but i have lots of ideas, as i’m sure you do for this dresser.
happy refinishing/painting/leaving it the way it is/whatever you choose!
Shannon S. says
Hi Sherry! I love that dresser. Classic! And Clara’s bedding looks fab! I just finished painting a dresser that looks JUST like that! I use it as my TV stand (the storage is great)! I wanted to keep it light and simple, here it is if you get a second: http://burlapandlaceblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/gold-dipped-tv-console.html
Can’t want to see what else you do in the room! :)
YoungHouseLove says
So cool!
xo,
s
Rachel K says
Um.. I don’t mean to sound like a weirdo, but I think that’s my old dresser! Does it by any chance have little circular marks on the top? It’s either the actual dresser or it’s exact twin. It would be so crazy if that was mine because I gave it away in NYC to my management company when I moved!
Anyway, I loved that dresser and only gave it away because my husband wanted something more modern. It was really cool having smaller drawers in the middle for socks, etc. Enjoy it!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny! I don’t see any marks on the top but you never know.
xo,
s
Katie says
Your area is so much more reasonable for Craigslist pricing! Ours (southeast Louisiana) is ridiculous – they want $100 for a faux wood dresser, or $300 for the real thing! I’ve found two under $100 — one was missing two drawers, the other we went to see and smelled of smoke. No thanks!
Lauren H says
Ha! Somewhat related: when I was searching for furniture on Craigslist last year, I would always see dressers listed as “a chester drawers”–haha like a chest of drawers but people would seriously write CHESTER DRAWERS $75. Made me laugh so hard–and it still makes me giggle now! “That’s the perfect Chester Drawers for me!” hahaha.
Mary | lemongroveblog says
Y’all have had some serious luck on Craigslist as of late! This looks great!
Amanda says
Ah, it’s gorgeous! I want something similar for my master bedroom – I love the lines on that dresser! Can’t wait to see what you guys end up deciding to do with it.
Jennifer F says
That dresser has very sweet lines and will look awesome however you choose to refinish it. I can imagine it stained really dark, or painted eggshell blue…..lovely.
Nevin says
I checked out the new Goodwill in Goochland, or Manakin I should say. They handsome great finds, yet they were pricier than other Goodwills. I did get a cute wooden chair that is white right now,but I will be painting it to replace a bulkier chair at the desk in my kitchen.
Oh!!!! I found some darling pillow shams at another Goodwill by Orla Kiely. love them! ‘M not sure what I will do with them yet, but the colors were awesome ~ navy, chartreuse, and aqua. Aging, I need to blog about them once I make a decision.
YoungHouseLove says
Those sound so cute!
xo
s
Lauren L says
Ugh you guys find stuff on C list at such great prices out there. I shop the OC and LA (SoCal) C list a lot and I wouldn’t be surprised to find that thing for $100 out here :(((
Cathy C says
So I rarely write to you guys, but I had to this time. Just got back from making a list purchase. $100 scored me these two immaculate (not sure they were ever sat on) chairs.
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/fuo/3572695947.html
Get home, look under the seat… Ethan Allen. Similar chair on Ethan Allen currently for sale for $1300 a piece.
I owe Craig and his list BIG TIME!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw man, the posting is deleted, but I bet they’re awesome! They sound like a total steal!
xo
s
Gabbi @ Retro Ranch Reno says
Probably half of the furniture in our house has come from Craigslist, and some of them are my favorite pieces!! I love breathing new life into someone’s old stuff. This was my latest find that I just couldn’t pass up! :)
http://retroranchrenovation.blogspot.com/2012/12/needs-vs-wants.html
YoungHouseLove says
Looks awesome!
xo
s
Sarah says
We have a dresser that is a hand me down from my aunt that looks EXACTLY like that one! As soon as it warms up outside it’s getting refinished in a charcoal :) Can’t wait to see what you guys do with yours!
Katy says
Oh, Craig. How I love your list! I’m not searching for anything currently… I definitely don’t need to buy anything… but I did spot an ad in the ‘free’ section for a ‘large concrete double laundry sink’. I haven’t seen a picture of it, but in my mind I’m conjuring up a really cool re-purposed flower pot/bed thing for around the deck. (If we were building a house I’d use it in the laundry room… if it fit and was useable)! However, I can already imagine the reaction I’d get if I asked my hubby if he could help me pick up a large concrete sink! (And he’s usually very quick to help me with my random Craig’s List finds… but a concrete sink might be pushing it)! Haha. Love your dresser!
Krissy says
Love the dresser! We bought a new living room set on craigslist last week and are now trying to sell our old sectional. It’s gross, so we’re hoping someone will take it for free for a college apartment or something to that effect. The new stuff is really nice, and not a sectional so there’s more arrangement options. And it doesn’t block the heat from the wood stove! Winning all around (Oh, and Murphy already claimed the loveseat… what a booger).
YoungHouseLove says
Hahah!
xo
s
karen says
i bought an elliptical machine yesterday…from kijiji…do you guys use that?
my vote is to paint it…great find!
YoungHouseLove says
I’ve heard it’s awesome!
xo
s
Carly G. says
Completely unrelated, but I just saw an article on apartment therapy that looked like it was right up your alley….suitcase dollhouses! Check it out!
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dollhouses-made-out-of-suitcases-183216?img_idx=1
PS- Love how Clara’s room is turning out! I have a similar dresser that is painted white.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s insanely cool!
xo
s
Mary Beth says
Great dresser, but I cannot tell you how much I love the moose lamp! If I ever come across one I will do a super-embarrassing happy dance on the spot!
Erin@VintageKC says
Sweet score! I have a bedroom set just like it and am planning to paint it with chalk or clay paint. Not chalkboard paint mind you. No priming with these paints, because who has time for that? They are also low or no VOC, which I know you love! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds great!
xo
s
Karen S says
Where is Clara’s big girl bed from? I love the cut out details on the sides of it!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s from West Elm around 6 years ago.
xo
s
Heidi P. says
Oooh! Are you going to projector something on the wall and paint a picture?!?!
YoungHouseLove says
That would be fun…
xo
s
priscilla says
That dresser is beautiful and love the lines of it!
This dresser post reminded me of something SO important; last weekend we were at my daughter’s house and 1 minute after their father walked out of the 3 year old twins’ room, we heard a tremendous crash. We ran in and their dresser was on top of one of them and it is all wood and heavy. Thank God there were only bruises, but my daughter had recently seen a post about a 3 year old girl who died when a small dresser fell on her.
Needless to say, all the dressers, armoires, pie safes, cabinets, in their home are now tethered to the wall with strong restraints. We feel so fortunate there wasn’t a tragedy, so please remind all your readers to NOT WAIT – do this NOW. It took two men several hours to get it all done, but the peace is worth it. Hope this helps someone else!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh gosh that’s so scary! We’re crazy about anchoring things to the wall (we order them from amazon.com and have blogged about how we use them all the time). Such a great reminder though! And I’m so glad everything was ok at your daughter’s house.
xo
s
Angeline says
We have almost the exact same dresser, also off craigslist, to upgrade from our clear plastic dressers (hangs head in shame). We haven’t done anything but clean it up…we have no other “forever” furniture in our bedroom so I don’t want to start something I don’t end up liking in the room later.
rosie says
your post title reminded me of the book “not the hippopotamus” by Sandra Boynton. Not sure if it’s still “required reading” for the toddler set, but my kids loved it. “a moose and a goose together have juice…but not the hippopotamus”
Love that dresser-definitely worth stalking craigslist with a find like that!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we love that book!
xo
s
Meredith Jones says
That’s a super cute dresser! The $50 price had me do a double take! I’ve been looking recently for some sort of side table thing for the bathroom, we want to do kind of like your with the vessel sink using a table instead of doing the normal vanity thing…. wish us luck! haven’t found anything close to what we want so far!
YoungHouseLove says
Lots of luck!
xo
s
theresa says
SERIOUSLY?! $50? Man, one crappy thing about living in a super rural town with two large colleges.. NO used dressers, EVER.
I am not kidding. One of those Walmart pop-up dressers sells for $50 on Craigslist here. :( I once saw a dresser similar to this on there selling for 4x that, jerks! Lol.
Anyway that is lovely, can’t wait to see the art!!
Suzanne @ www.smallchangesbigimprovements.com says
I am always so jealous of your Craigslist finds!!!!!! I can totally see that baby painted!
I am headed to Salvation Army to find an ugly thing to spray paint pretty for the challenge. I know it’s a big mistake to head
in to a thrift store with a plan but I can dream!
katie lake says
I am currently on the hunt for a desk for my husband’s computer. I want something that is wood so I can paint it, open underneath with the four legs in the corners (I had to clarify because I was offered a table with the four legs almost in the center…). Roughly 3-4 ft by 2-3 ft. Is this too specific? I have seen this desk before I promise – it was just WAY out of my price range.
YoungHouseLove says
Hope you find something that works Katie!
xo
s
Cassie says
I’m so jealous of your craigslists finds. :( I get on there just as often, but I can’t ever really find anything… I’ve been looking for a solid wood dresser to upgrade for the girls’ room (right now they have a crummy pressed wood one with a broken bottom drawer) and finally found one for only $30, but the guy was uber creepy. I decided to cut my losses and not get the dresser for fear of turning into a face mask.
Sarah B. says
Love the dresser – but I think it could use one of those white ceramic inchworms sitting on top that are in West Elm’s new catalog. I mean really – you have to have that right? It’s so perfect – Clara needs to start her own menagerie. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s true!
xo
s
Keisha says
Beautiful dresser! I like the idea of leaving it wood. For a quick touch up of our wood around the house I like to rub on mineral oil that I use for my cutting boards. Amazing how much better our trim looks now.
Also, if you paint it white, you could paint the pulls red, pink or navy. We painted our nightstands white but painted the pulls turquoise, turned out really cute.
Can’t wait to see what else you have up your sleeve for this cute room!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that!
xo
s
Robin says
What a great find! I’m actually jealous of your child. Is that bad? Navy would be so great and play so well with the pinks and reds. Excited to see how this room comes together.
Sue Kment says
This will make a great addition to here room-but don’t forget to safety anchor it to the wall!
Rachel May says
That’s a great piece! I’m addicted to Craigslist…too many good deals.
Maybe we could coin the term “Put a moose on it” to take place of the birds? Trends change, after all:)
Samma says
Love the dresser! And I don’t have words for how much I love Sir Craig and his list! Tonight we got a great antique empire style sofa, w/ mint new upholstry. Perfect mix of old & new for our place, and I think I’m going to try a fabric dye experiment. The mint upholstry is a very pale cream ……
romeoandjewels says
Have you guys tried Restore-A-Finish? You won’t have to redo it, it’s fantastic! :) Finish with the Feed-n-wax and voila, ready to roll!
YoungHouseLove says
I keep hearing great things about it! Thanks for the tip.
xo
s
Jennifer Fogerty-Gibson says
Some how I managed to miss the ceramic moose lamp getting spray painted, but it is even more comical to me now that I’ve seen your reaction to Chuck, the cowboy lamp.
I hope you have made it home safe and sound. You two must be exhausted, I was in awe of how long you were able to smile and be nice to person after person in that book signing line. Honestly, you two are champs!
Jennifer
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha, we loved meeting you and your kind but quiet date Chuck! Hahah. Seriously, thanks so much for coming out. We had the best time with you guys!
xo
s