stag dressing table upcycled

In order to make furniture from salvaged materials, one must be highly creative and have a good sense of design. In most cases, people don’t even know where they can find it or how to work with the material before they start making it. In this article, we will take you step by step through the process of transforming an old sideboard into a cute, custom-fitted dressing table with a modern look.

This project started with finding the right piece of the old sideboard. We found it at a local junk shop, and there was no doubt that this was the perfect raw material for our upcycling project. The only thing we had to start this makeover was an idea; once we saw few pictures of the old sideboard, we were sure that we could turn it into a modern and stylish dressing table, just like we wanted.

We used almost all the material that came with old sideboards: top and legs, drawers, and small pieces of wood for shelves. That gave us an opportunity to use other useful materials such as metal plates and other metal objects from garage sales.

Now, when we have it all sorted out, let’s get started! We cut an opening in the back of the sideboard with a jigsaw for a mirror and a hole for an electrical cord to reach the wall socket behind the table. Then we turned our attention to drawers. First of all, we had to cut out an opening for electrical cords. We made it with a jigsaw and covered the raw edges with small pieces of MDF boards. After that, we cut plywood to fit the drawers’ depth. We used old finger hinges for our DIY drawers; after all, the mirrors on both sides increased their size significantly.

We installed metal plates on the sides of the sideboard for a modern look. We simply attached them with screws onto the edge of where the top meets the legs.

The drawers are painted in two tones: ivory white and parchment color, to make contrast with metal plates. Then we added some edging on both colors. Ivory white one is made of small pieces of MDF boards with the help of a knife, and the parchment colored one is made of wood putty.

We also decided to add some handles on the drawers, just for a finishing touch. It was easier than we thought: we used four metal brackets and three knobs per drawer. They look great and perfectly fit in this modern up-cycled dressing table.

Now comes the most important part – the top of this baby! We cut plywood to fit drawers’ depth and then used a sanding machine to make it smooth for painting. Then we painted it in ivory white color, with the help of a small roller brush. As you can see in the picture above, old drawers are not white anymore. That’s why we had to paint it again, but this time in classic furniture white color.

After the top of the dressing table was dry, we attached it with screws to drawers’ sides and then attached the legs of the new sideboard too – just for more stability. Now you can see that our new DIY sideboard looks much better than an old one!

This dressing table is very functional now, with all the power cords tucked inside. All drawers are working properly now, so you can actually use them as a modern dressing table. It has two small top areas for storage, which are perfect for all your morning beauty essentials. Above them, there’s a large mirror on the wall, which is just perfect for putting on makeup. If you’re tired of the old bathroom mirror that doesn’t give you enough room to work with, then this upcycled dressing table is just what you need!