New Life for a Waterfall Vanity

Wendy Stilwell Farricy
by Wendy Stilwell Farricy
5 Materials
$50
2 Weeks
Medium

I could not believe that I found this beautiful vanity on the side of the road. Called a friend to come help me bring it home. As I stood waiting for her cars passing by showed interest. I did not leave 🤣

Cleaned out years of dust


Used dish soap with vinegar and water. I found a diamond earring in one of the corners. Yup it was real. 😁

Removes all of the warped pieces of veneer from the back.

Not much could be done with the back of the mirror, so I left it alone

For the inside and sides of drawers I used a charcoal color chalk paint. To add a little pop I used a lace stencil and white acrylic paint. All painted areas received a dark wax seal. Which also allows the drawer to slide easily.

I hand sanded the entire piece, took a couple of days. On one side and the bottom front the wood veneer started to peel.

I used the dark charcoal chalk paint to cover the areas where the veneer had lifted. I used wood glue to correct as much as possible.

Used a stencil for the top center of vanity. Used a dark brown acrylic paint, looks kind of like an inlay.

The hardware was dull, I cleaned and ended up using nail polish for the correct color.

Applied three coats of clear poly, light sanding between coats

Super pleased with the results!

After finding the right color tone for the hardware I needed to update the metal part. Flat black spray paint did the trick.

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  • Johanne Palange Johanne Palange on Jun 29, 2021

    Unless a piece with such beautiful woodwork is irretrievably broken up what you have done is the best thing to do. Looks fabulous. You've got yourself a great save. (Carrot? lol. Forgive my very visual imagination, but I'm seeing a pile of small carrots on one platter of a scale and diamonds on the other platter.)

  • Cecilia Langston Larsen Cecilia Langston Larsen on Oct 04, 2021

    This is beautiful!!! I have one almost just like this one that I'm going to restore & can't wait to get started after seeing this! Did you sand the front of the drawers too? I was concerned the design in the wood would be damaged.

  • Joan Stanley Joan Stanley on Nov 18, 2023

    This looks almost exactly like my mother's back in the '50's. Wish I still had it.

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  • Wendy Stilwell Farricy Wendy Stilwell Farricy on Apr 21, 2023

    Thank you this was my first major attempt also. Enjoyed the project, learned a lot. Post yours would love to see it.

  • Jos130213798 Jos130213798 on Sep 25, 2024

    I love this project so much! My granny had a dresser just like this one until the day she passed. Beautiful memories Thank you

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