It’s that time of month again, friends! It’s time for the Monthly DIY challenge! In case you’re new, here’s the scoop: On the 2nd Wednesday of every month, me and my bloggy friends get together and create something based on a common material or idea that everyone uses. The end results are so unique and fantastic! So far we’ve done Michaels crates, pumpkins, wood slices, clear ornaments, organizational solutions, plumbing pieces, the dollar store, and trash to treasure. This month we chose wood scraps/shims/etc. – basically anything to do with wood! Be sure to stick around to the end of the post to see everyone else’s AMAZING projects!
You might remember this white dresser from my Wayfair Pop of Color post from last week. It’s a pretty standard and sturdy dresser. We inherited it from some family members; it’s story is a sad one and ever since the owners have wanted this dresser (and other baby furniture) to be passed down within the family.
I’m super appreciative of the free furniture! It’s so special that it’s been passed down to a few family members already. However, we already have a LOT of white furniture in our home, especially in this room, and I wanted to find a way to mix up the look of this piece without permanently altering it.
Enter balsa wood! I was inspired by Katie of Little House of Four’s AMAZING specimen cabinet that she made with balsa wood – so genius! Balsa wood is SO super light and can easily be cut with an exacto knife. I picked up a bunch of pieces from Michaels and then set about to cutting them down to size to fit the fronts of my dresser and then stained them with an oaky stain from Rust-Oleum.
Above is the unstained plank of balsa wood, and the below is after a coat or two of stain. I purposefully stained different boards with a different amount of stain and set times so that each piece would look varied.
After that, I wanted to find a way to non-permanently attach my balsa planks to my dresser drawer fronts. What ended up working best was double-sided tape, if you can believe it! I simply put a bunch of double-sided tape on the backs of the planks and then pressed them into place.
There were a couple unruly planks that had warped a bit while drying, so for extra hold I used a bit of hot glue. The surface of the dresser drawers is laminate-smooth, so the hot glue will easily peel off whenever I want to switch up the look or pass the furniture on to another family member!
Simple as that! A quick and easy project using balsa wood to make a beautiful dresser update! I really love how it varies the look but then can also be removed easily as I need it to be.
I think it’s a great way to temporarily mix up all the white furniture in our office space for a pretty cheap budget! The warmth and texture it brings to the room is a great addition to our space!
Now stick around and check out all of my friend’s fabulous creations! They are seriously swoon-worthy and such fantastic inspiration. Click on a picture below to be taken to their post!
Absolutely LOVE this Erica! It definitely warms up the room and how awesome that it’s temporary! Beautiful!
Thanks so much, Kristi! I definitely like how it brings some extra warmth and texture to the space. Now just to get the rest of the room finished! Hah!
Isn’t balsa wood the best? I love the contrast of the paint and wood and how it blends in so well with your floors! Great makeover!
Katie you totally inspired me with the balsa wood! I was scratching my head figuring out how to temporarily transform my dresser and then I remembered your AWESOME specimen cabinet! Actually, I’m going to go put a link to your site into this post right now!
I can’t believe how much of a difference balsa wood can make! It looks absolutely gorgeous.
Thank you so much, Cat! It really has made a big difference! And when (if) I get tired of it I can always easily change it back! Win-win 🙂
Yep. That looks really cool Amazing how the balsa scraps add so much character! I like the way the piece plays against the other elements of the room too…
Thanks so much, Dan! I definitely love how much warmth and texture it adds 🙂
This is great, Erica! Love that it is temporary and can easily be changed if need be. Although I would never change it, as I love the new look!
Aw, thanks so much Tara! I really like it too – it’ll definitely be staying up for a while!!
Well you know I love Balsa Wood and you know I love furniture makeovers so I obvi LOVE this 🙂 The balsa wood gave it the perfect update it needed! And isn’t it so easy to work with?!
Thanks so much, Bre! You are the resident furniture makeover maven so it means a lot to me! I really like the balsa wood because we don’t really have any saws or big power tools here for working with ‘real’ wood so balsa wood and my little craft knife works just lovely 🙂
What a great addiction, Erica! It adds such character! I’ve yet to use balsa wood but now I want to! So nice it’s temporary although I wouldn’t change it anytime soon! 😉 Hope you e had a great weekend! xo
Thanks so much, Kendra! The balsa wood was SO easy to work with and I think it makes such a great update! I definitely won’t be changing it anytime soon, either 🙂
beautiful! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. Watch for your feature tomorrow xo
Aw, thank you SO much! I’m so flattered! Thanks so much for the great party! 🙂
Looks great! I love how fresh the update is. Thank you for sharing at Pin Worthy Wednesday!
Thank you, Jocelyn! I just love Pin Worthy Wednesday! 🙂
What a huge difference! I love how the balsa wood looks against the white. So modern and fits your decor style so well. It’s gorgeous!
Thank you so much, Amy! I definitely like how it warms up the space and makes the piece look more custom. It was a fun challenge for sure!
Such a great idea to use balsa wood!! It totally changes the look of the dresser, and I looove it! 🙂
Thank you!! I love how different it looks and it just fits so well in the space now! 🙂