Furniture Makeover : Dresser Turned Faux Apothecary Cabinet

Turn a multi-drawer dresser into a vintage-inspired faux apothecary cabinet!

It's no surprise that I love turning dressers into vintage-inspired apothecary cabinets or card catalogs. Nothing beats the real deal, but when that's not possible, creating your own is the next best thing.

I'm always on the hunt for affordable furniture that can be easily updated with paint and hardware and lucky for me, I recently found another perfect project piece.

This little chest was just screaming for a super quick apothecary-inspired makeover! It had great bones, dovetail drawers and needed very minimal repairs.

- SUPPLIES NEEDED TO MAKE A FAUX APOTHECARY-INSPIRED CABINET-

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- Multi-drawer dresser (if you can't find one with faux drawers you can make your own using THIS technique)

- Bronze drawer label pulls

- Dewalt Orbital Sander

- 120 Orbital Sanding Pads

- 300 Grit Sandpaper

- Fusion Mineral Paint Coal Black

- JB Weld Kwikwood

- Purdy Paint Brush

- Dark Antique Wax

- Satin Furniture Wax

- Drill and/or Screwdriver

- Small Drill Bits

- Tape Measure

- Lint-Free Rags

- Simple Green

- HOW TO MAKE A FAUX APOTHECARY CABINET -

I was lucky to find a dresser that already had divided drawers, but if you need to create the look of more drawers you can use a router and follow this tutorial.

I removed all the hardware then gave the chest a good sanding with my Dewalt Orbital Sander and 120 grit sandpaper.

The only repairs that needed to be made were filling a bunch of old holes. It was a super easy fix using my go-to wood filler, JB Weld Kwikwood.

After the wood filler was dry, I sanded it smooth, cleaned the chest then painted it with Fusion Mineral Paint in Coal Black.

After the paint was dry, I distressed the edges then sealed the paint with dark antique and satin wax.

I used the dark antique wax around the edges to darken the raw wood then used clear stain wax to seal the rest of the dresser.

I always predrill new hardware holes with a drill and small drill bit to ensure the wood doesn't split and hardware is placed evening. Fortunately for me, I only needed to predrill 80 new holes to attach my favorite brass label pulls. Can you sense the sarcasm?

As tedious as drilling new holes was, it was definitely worth the time and effort!

Painted dresser turned faux apothecary cabinet

Painted dresser turned apothecary cabinet

Paint and vintage-inspired hardware do it again and inexpensively and effortlessly transform a dated piece of furniture into a stylish faux apothecary cabinet!