I still have a few Dwell with Dignity projects to share with you, and I’m really excited about this one! One of my favorite projects from the Dwell with Dignity home, and by far my boys’ favorite project, is the Comic Book Dresser. My kiddos are already asking me to make one for them. I wish I’d had an opportunity to shoot better photos of it, but we will just have to make do with what we’ve got!
I’ve had a lot of questions about the dresser and many of you wanted to know the details, so here you go!
How to Create a DIY Comic Book Dresser
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The boys living in the home (ages 4 and 10) love superheroes and Legos, so this superhero comic dresser was the perfect statement piece for their room. I found the comic books at an Atlanta-area thrift store called Furkids. Check them out if you’re local! You can also find inexpensive comic books online.
We started out with a basic dresser from IKEA, but any dresser will do. After several bloggers teamed up for many hours building the IKEA dresser (we might as well have built it from scratch! Ha), it was finally time to add the comic book pages.
We used matte Mod Podge and a foam brush to adhere the comics to the dresser. (You could also use Mod Podge Hardcoat which eliminates the need for an additional sealer.) Apply Mod Podge to the dresser surface AND the paper. I made the mistake of not doing this at first. I quickly changed my technique and this way worked a lot better. Let me just say — I found it incredibly difficult to get the air bubbles out. Luckily with such a busy/graphic pattern, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It did help to turn the drawers upside down after they dried, and I also laid a large wooden board on top of the dresser to try to get air bubbles out overnight. A brayer helps smooth the paper, but be aware that the Mod Podge dries quickly so you will need to work in sections.
Here’s my friend Donna helping me at the ADAC studio.
After the comics were dry, we applied a layer of Mod Podge on top. We allowed that to dry also, and then I followed it up with 2 coats of Minwax Polycrylic in a Semi-Gloss finish. Big thank you to Minwax for donating Polycrylic for this project!
Now the boys have a cute, functional, custom piece of furniture created especially for them. Here it is in their bedroom which was designed by Kerry Howard.
Psst… there are still a couple of tickets left for this weekend’s Dwell with Dignity thrifting fundraiser in Atlanta if you’re interested! I’d love to see you there!
Also, if you missed the Dwell with Dignity home reveal you can check that out here, and I shared the Lego coat rack tutorial here.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Bedroom photo by Thomas England, photographer.
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That’s so cool! What a fun dresser for a kids’ room (or, you know, I’d probably put it in my room, too, if I could get away with it ;))
Thanks Gretchen!
I love this – so fun for a little guy – and so great of you guys to do!
Thanks so much, Jenna!
I am a comic book fan and collector since I was a kid, but never thought that comics can be used as your ideas. Extraordinary work!
Thank you!
Although you will never look at Mod Podge the same way, that dresser looks amazing! Fantastic job with that and the whole project! Everything turned out beautifully!
Thanks Angela! And so true — in fact I don’t think I’ve used Mod Podge since this project! Haha.
I LOVVVVE THIS!!!! xo
Thank you, Cindy! 🙂
Mod Podge! Super project with a wonderful final result. I have this project saved for my Grand baby Lucas’ room one day. Had a fun time with ya!
Thanks so much for your help with this Donna! It would look super cute in Lucas’ room!
Looks great, i did something similar with an old chair when i was a bit younger, was a great little project and came out really well! That was done with different cut out bits and pieces. 🙂
Why are the doors boarded up in that room?
It was a storage unit connected to a building so I assume they didn’t want the renters of the storage unit to have access to the rest of the building.