You have to stir it?

So, I have been debating back and forth about what to do regarding the dresser that smells like cigarettes. First, I just want to say that smokers suck. And no, I will not apologize for being mean to smokers - I mean seriously, this whole smoke smelling dresser thing has really cost me some serious time!

My choice came down to this:

1. Craigslist the dresser and invest in a closet system (since either way, I have determined that the dresser will have to live in the closet in order to accommodate the crib, rocker, dresser and daybed without the room looking totally overwhelmed)

2. Try to make the dresser not stink anymore (baking soda in the drawers for a month did nothing)

I determined that while the dresser was only $10 and I should really just give it the ol' heave ho, I had invested considerable time into the thing and it had really grown on me, I mean, it is pretty cute. So...I decided to invest some more time into it. 

First step, use a primer with a shellack base (rather than water base) so as to seal in the stench. I took all the drawers out onto the deck and painted the inside raw wood parts with primer. The shellack primer was left - over from when I did the bathroom cabinets. This stuff is runny and hard to work with. 2 drawers in and it seemed like the brush was hitting the bottom of the can pre-maturely. I wondered to myself "do they put a false bottom in this thing and basically screw you out of that much product?" 

Um - no. They don't. That is the stuff that should have been stirred in to the more watery stuff that was runny and hard to work with. I was using the can like the Roger Moore James Bond, shaken, not stirred and what I should have been doing is using it like the Sean Connery James Bond, Stirred, not shaken. Um. Basically, I always shook the can and the stuff that settles (the thickening whatever it is) was never getting shaken into the primer. Yea - dumb. So anyway, the remaining drawers got super thick coats of primer. 

I have a paint cabinet full of paint. This is because I have been extremely indecisive about paint colors and for the longest time, Home Depot did not have sample sizes of paint, you had to buy a quart to test the color. As such, I have a ton of quarts of perfectly good, unused paint. Enter the electric blue color I bought for who-knows-what reason. 

Perfect!

So - the interior of the drawers will be blue. I still have to paint the actual inside of the dresser too - I think I will go with primer white and then a coat of a creamy white over. 

Cross your fingers that this takes away the smell. If not, I wasted and absolutely incredible amount of time on this. 

I feel like the blue looks either edible or like playdough. Either way - I like it! It is super fun and brings a little bit of a whimsical flair to the dresser - a flair that will pretty much be hidden and no one will ever see but still fun.