Another person's old dresser is our new buffet :)

There are always a ton of yard sales going on in our neighborhood- even more now than in the summer since the weather is much more tolerable. And while I've never been real big on scavenging through other people discarded things, I have been more and more curious about attempting to score big ticket items to fill our empty walls and rooms. I was on the search for a couch or possibly a dining set. Since we recently purchased those items anyway (and couldn't be happier) I started to cool off on my yard sale drive-bys.

But, this past weekend there was a yard sale going on two blocks south of us. Just out of curiosity I did a drive-by and saw an old dresser. It wasn't that great so I didn't stop or get out. While running errands that day I passed by that street several more times and saw that no one had picked up that dresser. What could it hurt if I just looked at it? If anything, we meet a new neighbor and leave empty handed. So I asked Thomas if he wanted to take a walk. We went down there and surveyed our possible purchase. Upon closer inspection- I liked it- and I wanted it. "I'll make you a good deal," the homeowner said. Thomas was skeptical. I told him that we could use it as a buffet table in our dining room- and use it as a place to stash placemats and tablecloths. Thomas' response, "I dunno." It was the end of the day and the lady wanted to get rid of everything. "If you like it- take it." Sweet! So even if what I wanted to do with it didn't work out- we could put it on the sidewalk to be picked up or donate it and we wouldn't be out a penny. We took it.

Here's what it looked like in all it's (free) glory:
And this is what it looked like after I sanded it down and removed all the old and dated hardware:
And finally, after four days of sanding and staining (and then sanding down some more and staining again) and adding some new door hardware, this is what we ended up with:Isn't it beautiful? Well, I think so. Staining was definitely a learning experience but I am enjoying my "learn as you go" do-it-yourself stuff. The buffets that I was looking at in stores would have set us back at least $300. The price for this? In total, for the stain, the brushes, the sandpaper, the door hardware and the sealer it only cost us a cool $68. Cool, huh? And the red mahogany that I stained it is a perfect match to our newly purchased dining room set.