We are in full summer weather mode here in Minnesota. On Saturday the temps reached the mid 90’s with high humidity. Needless to say, I didn’t get much done except for mowing the lawn, sitting in the lake and taking a late afternoon nap because I had too much heat and sun.

After typing that paragraph and re-reading it, that’s not a bad day.  🙂

A strong storm came through later in the day and bringing with it cooler temps and lower humidity.

You know what that meant for my Sunday? Another nap day! Working on my to-do list.

At the top of yesterday’s list was working on the serpentine dresser I purchased recently from an estate sale.

Initially, I thought I would paint the dresser. But the more I looked at it, the more I figured I would continue to hone my skills with staining. I still love how the stair threads turned out.

The first step was to completely clean the dresser. I once again used Murphy Oil Soap and a damp cloth to wipe out the insides and outsides of the entire dresser. Then it sat in the sunshine and warm summer breeze for about 15 minutes to dry.

If I had to guess, I would guess that this dresser has been sitting in an attic or barn loft for several years. It is in great shape except for some cobwebs, dust and a few scratches on the top.

These scratches were easily sanded out. “Easily” being defined here as sanding right to left with the grain for about 45 minutes.

The top didn’t need to be stripped of any polyurethane because it had worn off through the years, if there even was any to begin with.

After sanding down deep enough to remove the scratches, it was time to use a pre-stain wood conditioner from Minwax.

I poured this on pretty generously. You could almost hear the wood give a gentle sigh as it soaked up all of the conditioning goodness.

Once the wood conditioner was applied, I let it sit for about 10 minutes and then used a clean dry cloth to remove any excess. Then the staining commenced.

I choose the same wood stain color as the stair treads. I want to leave the rest of the dresser alone for now. I think accenting the top with a little darker color will update it and pull everything together nicely.

Once the stain has completely dried (which is taking longer than I had hoped on this still humid day) I will apply several coats of polyurethane.

Stay tuned….

Wendy