Have I Mentioned This Before?? (New Vanity Makeover)
So I feel like every project that I've posted lately, I seem to be mentioning my vanity! and consequently promising to 'show and tell' about it. Well that time is here...
First, a little background... I had a very old vanity that I used and had two chairs that I used with it (one of which is my next project, which I'm very excited about.. think Princess..). The vanity had two, well three really... issues. It was bulky, it had no where to put your legs (the front is closed off) , and it lacked good storage ( I am a beauty product hog). Every time I'd go out to the resale store I'd look at all the desks and vanities they had available. I noticed that true vanities don't really have much storage!!?? You notice that too?? I did find one desk that I really, really liked.. however, it was priced too high for the current condition..drat. So I'd go home empty handed and broken hearted....
One day, I walked downstairs to find my husband staring at a sewing desk that I had gotten from a barn sale and refinished (pretty sure he was trying to figure out how to get the beast upstairs and out in the garbage LOL). It came with a sewing machine in it that I ended up giving to my sister because, well, she needed one : ) So now I had this desk that I didn't use and no longer contained a sewing machine, and I never cared for the way I had decided to refinish it (hi gloss mahogany finish), and it's just sitting in my basement.... and just like the waiter that realizes he has not given his patron a spoon to eat his soup with .... "Ah Hahhhh"
Now, if you know anything about sewing machine desks, they tend to have a hole where the machine goes.. this one was no different... Coincidentally, my husband had brought home a piece of polymer composite counter top, like 8 yrs ago (honestly he finds the coolest stuff while he's out and about, unfortunately for him I usually nab it before he has the chance to do anything with it himself). This poor thing had been gently moved around the garage about a million times waiting to become "something". ANNNNDDDDDD ....it...was...THE....PERFECT .. width for the top of the desk that was about to become my new vanity : ) Not only that , it just about matched our bathroom sink vanity!! BO-NUSSSSS! There was a chunk out of one end, which was fine with me because it needed to be cut to length anyway.
Now the sad part : ( This was done 'pre-hometalk days' so no during transformation pics were taken (boo hiss). I will explain what I did below the pics. Now, LET'S SEE IT for Pete's sake (and who is this Pete dude any way?).....
The original finish was a deep, very shiny, mahogany.
(remember the 'sisters' chairs? The persnickety one (aka Me...)? Yeah she was refinished to pair with the sewing desk)
For the drawers I used a de-glosser and when dried sanded them to give them a flat, softer, semi distressed cherry look (my bathroom vanity is cherry). I also replaced what were really ugly, horrid (seriously) handles with these fab new handles. If you are ever looking for knobs/pulls, Menards has yet to let me down. These were an extremely hard size to find.
I did the same process to the top around the edges where the wood showed. And there is my fabulous chair from this project
Here you can see the wonderful new composite top : ) Weeeee I love it! and so easy to clean! You can also see the shelf that my hubby built to go underneath. This basket holds all my flat and curling irons (yes I have a few.. don't judge 
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I lightly sanded the sides, back, bottom, and shelf , and painted all of it with the chalk paint I made from some taupe latex paint I had left over from painting a room (same used on the chair). I did not prime anything, but did sand lightly after the second coat with 300 grit, and then add a third coat. I then took out one of my now favorite stencils and created a design on both side panels. The stencil on the back of the chair was made to match these. No distressing was done on this piece.
Other side. It's hard to tell in the pics, but the 'ledge' on the bottom of the desk is painted in a bit darker color just to add dimension (Fusion Paint in Algonquin) and the same was painted in the crease of the front legs of the chair. Since it was going to be used in the bathroom I sealed it with Minwax paste finishing wax which dries hard and gives a very nice sheen to it.
Other projects I did for the vanity. These are a glass container and glass mug (can't see the handle on the right one in this pic) from the dollar store. The tops are painted terracotta planter bottoms and left over knobs I had hanging around. I've seen the tops used as ring holders, and dollar store glass containers used, but until I saw this on Pinterest, I'd never seen the two used together, Brilliant! Here is the post if you want to make them yourself!
Dollar store lime green baskets painted with Rustoleum Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze. Old silver pencil holder painted in the same color with ribbon added. and Dollar store mirror with added rope and burlap bow accents.
Painted lamp base and white shade. (what it looked like on the left and what it looks like now). I needed more light in that area... let's not comment on my old eyes..shall we?
Let's take one more look...........Ooooo Ahhhhhhh Love it
Thanks for looking!
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6 of 9 comments
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Charlee, you are so talented!
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You are sooo lucky! Your story and writing style is just as great as what you did with this piece. My girlfriend has every lotion, potion, remedy and implement known to man. It takes up an entire walk in closet in her house, her bathroom and closet are amazing too. Luckily we have the same coloring, so when I visit her I take stuff from her as she could be her own store. She must have 100 pair of tweezers alone! (I am guilty of adding to her obsession, as I pick up cool stuff for her too!) Great job, great share! Enjoy!
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I'm thinking I need to use my vanity a bit more before I DIY hahaha I usually look like a homeless person : ) I think my biggest beauty obsession is anything eyebrows!
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