Repurposed Drawer Upcycled into a Vintage-Style Table Riser

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Photo of a finished repurposed drawer made into a long table riser painted an antique blue with vintage knobs and black feet. Shown here filled with terracotta pots of spring greenery.

A repurposed drawer project anyone can do!

I found this wall shelf at the thrift store and my first thought was that I might be able to use it in the basement or garage. It was only $3 so I put it in the cart and brought it home.

Before photo of an old outdated wall shelf that has a shelf at the top and a drawer in the middle the wood is an orange shellac.

After some thought, I realized I could get two pieces out of this old shelf! A pretty vintage-style table riser for my dining room table and a shelf for paint in my garage. I’ve yet to hang the shelf up but I did finish making the table riser and it came out beautiful! Below are all the details.

Photo of the wood drawer removed from an old wall shelf. The wood knobs have been removed and it's sitting on the work bench.
Before

To transform this plain drawer into a stunning centerpiece, I went on a hunt for vintage drawer pulls to replace those ugly wooden knobs. I found these at the antique store!

Photo of two swinging vintage drawer pulls. The pull is black painted wood teardrop and the top is brass wtih a clover imprint.

If see an old wood drawer by the side of the road or run across one at the thrift store, consider repurposing it into something amazing. Below are the steps I took to transform this old drawer into a beautiful footed table riser.

I also purchased 3″ tall wood feet and a 12″ decorative wood applique on Amazon!

Overhead photo of 3-inch wood feet and a pretty 12-inch wood applique with shell motif in the middle.
3-inch wood feet and applique

How to Turn an Old Drawer into a Footed Table Riser

To get started on this project, I decided to secure the wood feet first with wood glue, and long wood screws.

Photo of drilling long wood screws into the bottom of a drawer to secure the feet. I also applied a little wood glue to the wood feet.

Next, I sanded just the drawer front with 320-grit sandpaper.

Photo of lightly sanding the shellac front of the wood drawer with 320 grit sand paper to transform the repurposed drawer into a tall table riser.

After sanding, I wiped the drawer down and primed the front with Dixie Belle BOSS Paint Primer. You can find it at most antique stores or here on Amazon. This primer is great at preventing color bleed-through that can ruin the paint finish later. It’s a good step to take especially when trying to cover dark or orange stains.

Closeup of applying Dixie Belle BOSS primer to the front of the drawer to block stain from showing through the paint later.

Once the primer was dry to the touch, I used wood glue, a heavy iron, and clamps to set my applique in place.

Photo of wood glue used to glue a decorative wood applique to the front of a shelf. The applique has been clamped down as well as a vintage iron on one side to help the wood piece adhere as it dries.

The Next Morning It Was Time To Paint

I had a change of heart the next morning. I was going to paint the entire riser with Dixie Belle Mineral Paint in Stormy Seas, but at the last minute I decided to paint the feet Caviar to match the drawer pulls.

Photo painting the feet of this DIY repurposed drawer riser with Dixie Belle Caviar.

As a final step, I applied General Finishes Matte Topcoat in matte to protect the paint layer. Feel free to use any topcoat you have on hand like wax or polyurethane.

Photo of a finished repurposed drawer made into a long table riser painted an antique blue with vintage knobs and black feet. Shown here in an overhead side view filled with holiday florals, pots of white flocked greenery, a white candle and a vintage ceramic white sled with horse and carolers inside.

I love how this little riser came out and I hope this repurposed drawer project gave you inspiration for your next project. For more upcycling ideas, check out the links below or Click here to sign up for my weekly newsletter to stay up on the latest!

Vertical image to Pin to your Pinterest boards to come back to this DIY later. The image is of a finished tall table riser made form an old wood drawer painted an antique gray-blue. The legs are wood knob style painted black. On the front of the drawer riser is a decorative wood onlay and antique brass pulls with black wood knobs on both sides. Inside the drawer riser is spring greenery in terracotta pots. The setting is a dark wood dining room table.
Vertical image of a before and after to turn an old wood drawer from a wall shelf into a tall table riser. The finish riser is painted an antique blue gray with black wood legs. The pulls are vintage with wood knobs that hang from a round brass ornate center piece. The drawer displays Christmas greenery and a ceramic vintage horse drawn carriage in white with light blue accents. The setting is a dining room wood table.

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Square feature photo showing four out of ten repurposed furniture ideas. These are photo snippets of DIY furniture in different stages before and after. There is a photo with a red metal lid and pipe legs, a finished patriotic table made from a large rusty red tin with white stars on it, a thrift store table being painted gray and white and a round wood hat box.

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