Were people shorter back in the 70s? Seriously. Have you noticed how short furniture was back then. And antique furniture, well you can forget about it if you’re over 5 feet tall. I wonder if we’ve grown collectively over the decades?
Regardless, these days we like big, chunky furniture. Take this lovely French Provencal dresser circa 1970. I had a whole set very similar this when I was growing up and my bet is a lot of little girls did. And I have to say, I never realized how short it all was until now!
Once upon a time I purchased this set of lovely vintage French Provencal bedroom furniture and every client who’s looked at it since has said, ‘It’s too short’ and my reply has always been, ‘But we can add legs!’. No one took me up on it….
Until now! All it took were these marvelous claw and ball legs to take it from stumpy 1970s to tall, stately and 21st century!
It’s modern, yet traditional and completely timeless. And best of all, it’s tall!
See. Sometimes it’s as simple as just adding legs. I know a few certain someone’s who are kicking themselves right about now!
This particular piece, while it looks stunning in my dining room and I would very much like to keep it, will be going to live in a bedroom. I wish it were my bedroom.
In addition to adding a base for the legs and adding the legs; it was also necessary to redrill the holes for those awesome new pulls. The trick with that is, no one should be able to tell you did that when you’re done! New drawer tracks were installed as well because the years, and children, had not been kind to the original ones.
Do you see these stunning cup pulls? They are solid brass with a polished nickel finish. They are like little mirrors for your fingers and I am in love.
And as if they weren’t awesome enough already, my client asked, ‘Can they be monogrammed?’ and as my jaw hung open I replied, ‘I don’t know! Let’s find out!’. And we did!
And they are!
The moral of this is story is, my best design consultant is in elementary school.
The End
Jamie, this is one beautiful revival! Those legs, those cup pulls…my heart just skipped a beat!
Debbie
Thank you so much Debbie! 😉
JAmie, I just saw your site, what kind of paint do you use, I love live your items!!!! Can u help me, with some questions, my email is [email protected], please!!!
Oh my… it’s stunning! I just love those drawer pulls. Do you mind if I as where you found them?
Karen if you’ll stay tuned I promise a post about this very thing will be coming soon! Thank you!
May I ask where you get your legs? I’ve looked on-line, but they are pricey. I have a night stand just begging for legs!
They are pricey! But in the end they are cheaper than buying a whole new piece of furniture. I have a post coming up about these legs and where to find them. Stay tuned!
Adding legs. Who’d a thunk? I’ve been searching for a dresser to do ever since I saw your black redo with baskets replacing some of the drawers. The problems have always been the feet, or lack thereof. Thanks!!
Well there you go! Problem solved! Now go find that perfectly imperfect piece to redo. 😉
Tweeted and PInned and NOW I shall covet! Legs!!!! Genius!!!! Once again, you did it!!!! I love the “mirrors for my fingers”, that is such a “me” thing. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! Great job! Love, Me
Thank you Rebecca!! I appreciate it!
I have ruled out I don’t know how many dressers for conversion to a bathroom vanity because they were too short. And I have a set of those legs I got when a furniture store went out of business, plans were to make an ottoman. I will definitely be looking with new eyes.
I love that! Look with new eyes Mott and you shall find that perfect vanity!
Good vision to see that it could use some legs. Clearly there were a lot of people (me included) that may not have come up with that. Looking forward to the post on where to buy….
Thanks Heather!
Great job!!!!! Just finished a project myself (hutch) with the same color and I was debating on copper or silver pulls and convinced on silver bc of your piece. Super well done!!!!
Thank you!
Someone should have taken you up on those legs sooner! They are fantastic.
Thank you!
Do you put something over the paint to protect from chipping?
I always seal all of my pieces Kelly!
Beautiful legs! Oh how many of us girls would love to hear that? 🙂
Your piece is absolutely wonderful! The cup pulls really take it to the next level. Great job- again!
Jamie- can’t believe this piece! I have this EXACT same furniture that was purchased for me by my parents for Christmas when I was 12 years old – 1974! In all the pictures that I have seen of French Pro. re-do’s, I’ve never seen mine! My set is in excellant original condition and is presently being used by my mother in her bedroom. I know what you mean about the dresser being so low! I will be adding the legs to it when it returns to my home one day you can be assured. Thank you so much for letting me see your transformation and the future potential! Please tell me where you got the legs?????
I loved both versions of that dresser. Your work is magnificent. I have newer furniture and I’m not liking the height of it simply because it takes over the room. When you have the average 8 foot ceiling and you place a 46 or 48 inch dresser in that room it diminishes the height of the room. I think the new taller dressers, night stands and armoires belong in rooms with higher or vaulted ceilings. I’m actually in the process of purchasing older furniture for its lower stature.
Thank you!
love this, you did a awsome job, now im looking for a dresser to do that. please help and tell me what kind of paint and the sealer you used. Thanks. keep doing and posting your work.
The color is called Dove White and the paint is from Benjamin Moore. Here’s a post where I talk about what kind of paint I use and why: https://www.southernrevivals.com/2014/04/uncle-joes-dresser-answers-questions.html
Stunning!
Thank you!
Did you paint the top of the dresser? My mom and I are looking to do this project as I have this exact bedroom suit. My only concern is that the finish is slick and the tops seem like Formica. Did you sand it at all? Thanks!!
I did paint it and painting formica can be tricky. You have to make sure you have the proper primer and sanding is always a good insurance policy. You might not need to but it doesn’t hurt to be safe rather than sorry.
Where did you find the cup drawer pulls used on the dresser?
Cool Knobs and Pulls.com
Jamie, I was so excited to see that you revived this
dresser. I have the same dresser and a desk and book shelf to match. I will be reviving all of them some day! Thank You!!
You are quite welcome! The I revived the desk as well. It’s on my blog, too. It’s hot pink though. They look nothing alike anymore! 😉
What kind of sealer did you use and also, how did you attach the legs?
It has been SO long! I believe I used wax. I added a bottom piece to the bottom of the dresser and attached the legs to that using the brackets that these legs attach with.
I don’t suppose that you also have the armoire that matches this piece do you? I have the armoire, night stand and twin headboard, It was my childhood furniture so I am a bit emotionally attached to it. I’ve been wanting to repurpose them.
I did! In fact, I had two. Both madeover for clients. You can see them here: https://www.southernrevivals.com/2013/07/a-silver-mink-and-pop-of-coral-brfrench.html
And here: https://www.southernrevivals.com/2013/12/french-provincial-desk-hutch-from.html