Jay Zaluski is a full-time healthcare worker, who lives in Bristol, UK. He has always been keen on DIY projects, but he started working more systematically on them during the lockdown in order to “stay sane”, as he explains.
Jay, aka Flipping Drawers, has a YouTube channel, where he uploads videos of him upcycling old pieces of furniture.
His channel has more than 35k subscribers, and his videos have been viewed by more than 2.3 million YouTube users so far.
A few weeks ago, he uploaded a DIY project that made an impression on the YouTube community.
It was an old curbside dresser that he found on the side of the road as he was going to get some food from a nearby fast-food chain.
Jay saw the dresser and immediately fell in love with it, so he didn’t think twice- he hopped out of his car and carried the dresser into his car, and took it home with him.
At first glance, the dresser looks hopeless. It’s so old and in a really bad shape, so much so that the untrained eye can’t visualize an upcycled version of it.
But experienced DIY guy Jay knows that it’s worth the effort. And, of course, the end result proves him right.
To begin with, he uses a scraper to remove the paint from the piece of furniture. The good thing here was that the paint was so old that it was very easy to remove.
Then he uses a screwdriver to remove the handles from the drawers. He also removes the skirting to update the dresser’s look, but also because he’s planning on using it to strengthen the dresser underneath later on.
After that, he uses oxalic acid to clean the surface of the dresser and remove any stains. As he points out, it is important to rinse off with water afterward.
As he gives a better look at the sides, he realized that someone must have tried to sand them before, but they ended up damaging it even more, so he just patches the holes and paints them since he is going to keep the dresser for himself.
Then, he goes on to clean the inside of the drawers, and then he uses Rustoleum charcoal paint. On the inside of the drawers, he uses natural beeswax, as well as on the sides and bottom. This really brings mahogany to life.
He then uses some mid-century modern legs he happens to have on hand to give the dresser a more elegant look.
Later on, he goes on to fix the bottom that was twisted and bowed, using a piece of oak.
With some more final touches from that point on, the dresser takes a completely different look. It’s now a modern, elegant, and most importantly, brand new dresser that anyone would want to buy for their house.
The YouTube community loved this upcycling project and left many positive comments below.
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Head over to the video to see Jay turning the old, damaged piece of furniture into something amazing.
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