How To Refinish Laminate Furniture

This laminate dresser speaks for itself and needs no further introductions:

Yes, it was scary looking and I LOVED it!

A little backstory here… we bought this dresser June 2013 to serve as a changing station for my daughter who was 7 months old… we had been searching for the perfect piece since before she was born. It pays off to wait my friends!

One evening we stopped by the DI (a thrift store) and somehow got separated while browsing. Little did I know my husband took a gander at the furniture section first and sent me a text with the picture above. I didn’t see the text until I had stopped by the furniture section and excitedly pulled out my phone to send a picture of this fabulous dresser to Tom (the hubby)… when lo and behold – Tom had already found it and knew it was what I had been searching for! He knows me so well :). $40 later, we were on our way home.

This dresser is laminate, which meant I needed to prime it with Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer Sealer before painting. This primer is amazing and I use it almost every time I am priming. I simply cleaned up the dresser (I toothbrush cleaned those detailed drawer faces, they were filthy) and used a roller brush to apply the primer to the flat surfaces.

For the drawer faces, I used the same Zinsser primer, but in a spray can. After the primer dried, I used Krylon spray paint (color: Catalina Mist) as a top coat.

I knew I would be washing the surface frequently since I was planning to use the dresser as a changing station, so to finish off the body of the dresser I rolled on a white enamel coat of paint. I have found enamel to be a bit hardier for surfaces that will have items placed on top.

This is what it looked like right after I finished it in 2013:

Here she is today, 2 babies and 3 years later and still looks great!

Do you have any laminate furniture sitting around begging for a makeover?