Home Decor and DIY: Garage Sale Freebie to Volkswagen Bus

Garage Sale Freebie to Volkswagen Bus

Early this past spring, I was on the hunt for furniture for our girls room makeover. They had a mish-mosh of pieces that didn’t coordinate and needed more space. When I spied a local garage sale had a vintage French Provincial set, I hopped on over. (Bedroom makeover coming soon!) Turns out a good friend was helping her family with the sale and showed me this dresser. I instantly knew it would make a fantastic Volkswagen …oh yessss…

A garage sale freebie Art Deco water dresser gets a sweet Volkswagen Bus makeover by Prodigal Pieces www.prodigalpieces.com #prodigalpieces

This is an Art Deco waterfall chest of drawers. It was marked $5 and she told me I could have it for FREE because it was junk. (Thank you, Julie!) Again, my brain says, “Bring it on!” Am I crazy? Maybe, but life is more fun that way.

So, now I have two Art Deco chest of drawers (or tall boys) awaiting new life and my first pick to work on was the second one. I recently used those glass pulls on my French Script dressing table, so now this gentleman stood naked..but not for long!

To get started, I needed to remove that snaggle-tooth veneer. There were two layers of veneer both on the outside and lining the inside, but my towel-soak method worked like a dream.

It peeled like butter off of hot toast. Two layers in one fell swoop! Funny the things that can make you giddy. Now I have a clean slate to start with and the just need a light sanding.

The face of the cabinet had this weird carved strip that kinda creeped me out because it looked like eyes staring at me.

It’s beautiful in its own right, but wasn’t going to suit my end project, so off it goes. It’s being saved for a project yet to be determined. Nothing goes to waste around here!

After this big boy was brought inside, I gave it a priming coat and then set to work on my vision. I removed that scalloped piece from the bottom front to give it a clean look.

About two years ago, I had seen a waterfall chest turned into a Volkswagen bus, and I promised myself that if I ever got my hands on another, I was going to give it a try. I even told my friend, Julie, when she gave me the chest my plan was a bus. Those vintage VW vehicles are so absolutely fun and who can resist those curves?

I like to get creative with pieces like this, and I wanted to just let it all hang out and really go for it. I created my stencils with cardboard or used plastic lids, etc., and eye-balled the design.

I decided to use my favorite furniture color with contrasting white for the finish. With the help of Hickory Hardware, I was able to get the pulls I wanted to complete the look I was after.

*Thank you to Hickory Hardware for providing the pulls for this project.

I also had this sweet gem shipped in from the UK via eBay, and gave a sneak peek on social media on my upcoming project. This is the icing on the cake. (Come follow along to join in the fun – just click on the icons up in the top right.)

I’m one proud mama and couldn’t be happier that this “junk” is now a funkified Volkswagen bus wannabe.

My heart goes pitter-pat over those wire pulls for windshield wipers, and I love that the turn signals are wooden knobs.

Isn’t he sweet? I have to tell you that I had another “God wink” because the day I was staging these photos, I happened to stop in a thrift store and found those almost new BLUE chucks and in my size!! I never shop for me and was giddy to bring them home. They don’t even look worn!

It will be a teary goodbye when I send this guy off to his new home, but if you love him too, you can find him in my shop. I know he’ll find a good home. sniff…sniff. (UPDATE: BEEP went to his new home on 8/26)