Habitat TV

Looking for a modern alternative to a dresser? This loft-style dresser is both stylish and easy to make yourself. Here’s how.

You will need:

• Plywood base
• Frameless mirror and clips
• Plywood shelves
• Pine dowels
• Drill
• Resene paint for the plywood base. We used 1 litre of Resene SpaceCote Flat tinted to Resene Alabaster
• Resene testpots in your choice of colours.  We used Resene Adrenalin, Resene Casablanca and Resene Guggenheim
• Resene roller and tray

Step one. Use the roller and Resene paint to cover the plywood base. Once dry, drill holes for the dowels where the shelves will be placed.

Step two. Once dry, pencil where the mirror and dowels will be placed.

Step three. Drill the holes for the dowels.

Step four. Paint the shelves and dowels in your chosen colours, using Resene testpots. We used Resene Adrenalin, Resene Casablanca and Resene Guggenheim for ours.

Step five. Attach the mirror to the plywood base using the drill and mirror clips.

Step six. Stand the dresser upright (carefully) and position it in place (it sits well at a slight lean).

Step seven. Push in the painted dowels and place the shelves. It’s now ready to use! We made an extra hole and used a slightly shorter dowel to create a hook to hang a coat, scarf or umbrella.

Measuring your loft-style dresser

The dresser was measured to fit the space it will live in. The staff at your local home improvement store can help with measurements and cut the wood and dowels to suit.

They will also recommend the correct drill bits to use for making the dowel holes and attaching the mirror clips.

Top tip: Try Resene Colorwood Whitewash or Resene Greywash for a soft weather timber look that will allow the wood grain to show through.

Project by Leigh Stockton. 

Photography by Melanie Jenkins.