Sumter Cabinet Solid Wood Beauty

 I found this set on Marketplace before work one day. I was surprised it was still available even at 8:30 in the morning.  I knew I would have to figure out how to get the giant dresser back to my house since I drive a sedan. So I arranged to pick up the nightstands and mirrors that morning before work and started working on getting the dresser to my house. 

This set was massive! Solid wood with dovetail jointing. When I took a step back and looked at the dresser I was sure the drawers were in the wrong location, but that was an easy fix, just took a little Tetris situation. 

Somehow I got so excited and started working on sanding down the tops of the nightstands before I got pictures. The original finish on these was so thick, I try not to use chemical strippers if I don't have to, and I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go with these.  So I started with the tops. Once I got the tops sanded down on both nightstands and the dresser it was time to make a decision. Do I restain the entire set, or just the tops and paint the bodies?  I decided to paint the mirrors first to get a better idea of what I wanted the final look to be. 
                                       

The color on this was somewhere between gray and green, depending on the lighting.  It was so gorgeous! I knew I had to paint the body the same! I could see it all coming together. So I got to scuff sanding them down with 100 grit sandpaper. I chose 100 grit over 180 since the original finish was so thick.  I wanted to make sure I broke through it enough that it would be as smooth as butter. Now, doing it this way does gum up your sandpaper. I'm not sure what their process was back in the 60s and 70s but man that finish was as thick as molasses.   Once I was done scuff sanding, wiping the dust back with my damp microfiber cloth, and tack cloth.  I got to work transforming this old outdated set and brought it into 2021. The hardware and the middle drawers were my next challenge. 

                                        

I was sure I wanted to use black hardware, I just wasn't 1000% sure which direction I wanted to go. Do I use a single knob, pull, or do I do a combo? Should the middle drawers be stained to match the top? painted to match the body? Or should they be a contrast?  So I pulled everything out and started the testing phase to see what options I liked best. 
                                       

         I went through a few stain options and just was not falling in love with any of them. It was the same issue with the hardware, nothing was going the way I was hoping. I had some wonderful options for sure, I just needed to finalize one of them. I did know I wanted the hardware to be black. Once I saw the black pulls against this beautiful color I knew exactly what I was going to do with the middle drawers and the inside of the nightstands.

It all started to come together faster than I realized, and before I knew it the set was being sealed with a high gloss polyurethane and being staged for selling.  It was like I blinked and it was finished.

The black pulls with the black middle drawers and matching nightstands just compliment each other so wonderfully. 

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