Meet the dresser of my beach house dreams. You may have seen it on Instagram, but here’s the full story—equal parts luck, persistence, and a little DIY.

I found this incredible piece on Craigslist. Yes, Craigslist. I still get a thrill thinking about it. The dresser was listed for $650 by a seller who’d originally bought it at HomeGoods for $1,200 and had even photographed the price sticker. The same dresser sells for much more through big retailers, so I couldn’t believe my luck when I eventually bought it for $400.

I almost lost it at first. I emailed the seller to ask if she might lower the price and she initially said no. I decided to wait and refused to buy any other dresser for that bedroom nook—I wanted that one. After a month or so she reached back out: no offers for $650, so she’d take $400. I grabbed it. It’s the most I’ve ever paid secondhand, but for a solid inlay dresser that normally sells for much more, it felt like the right choice.

When the dresser arrived, some of the inlay pieces were cracked and missing. The damage is subtle in photos but obvious up close. That became the next challenge: repair the inlay so the dresser would look right in the beach house.

If you’ve seen inlay furniture discounted “as-is,” it’s often because tiles have popped out or cracked. Don’t be scared off. Many inlay pieces are set into a plaster-like substrate, so a common and affordable repair is joint compound, also known as spackle. It fills gaps, sands smooth, and can be painted to blend with the surrounding pattern.

I filled the missing and cracked sections with spackle, sanded it smooth once dry, and then painted to match the inlay colors. Paint dries slightly darker, so I mixed a slightly lighter shade to compensate. The blue-gray tones were easy to match using paint we already had, but I didn’t have a yellow that matched the small missing tile at the front right, so that tile looks a bit lighter until I bring the right yellow paint on our next trip to Cape Charles.

The repair isn’t flawless yet. Spackle can shrink as it dries, so I plan to add one more thin coat, sand it again, and touch up the paint with a better yellow match. Even now, though, the pattern is busy enough that the patched areas are hard to notice unless you’re looking for them.

We hung a mirror above the dresser and added curtains to finish the look. The curtains were simple Ikea panels altered to fit with ring clips, and they help soften the room. Small details—like the mirror, curtain hardware, bedding, and a rug—make the space feel layered and calm while letting the dresser stand out.

What ties the room together are the original architectural details—the heart pine floors we had sanded and sealed and the stripped wooden doors. Their warm wood tones balance the cooler beachy blues and grays, creating a comfortable, lived-in feel.

Even small things—the solid wood knob, the little keyhole—make me oddly emotional. This dresser was a Craigslist find, a patient wait, and a little bit of elbow grease, and now it feels perfectly at home.

P.S. If you’re curious about the paint colors we used or other items in the beach house, we’ve put together a source list and shared many renovation updates elsewhere for reference.

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