DIY Custom Vanity

Lynnette Soltwedel
by Lynnette Soltwedel
6 Materials
$100
5 Days
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This vanity was rescued from an old house. We purchased it from the people that had been paid to clean out the house. It was sitting in the garage while I waited for inspiration to strike, when a lady who came to purchase a dresser (posted on here, the dresser with material on the sides) asked us to paint it to match a chest of drawers her grandmother had. So, here it goes....

Vanity

The vanity was sitting on a flat bed trailer when we went to see it. Look at this beauty...just needed some love!


Tools and Materials

  • sandpaper
  • paint
  • paintbrush
  • wood glue
  • wood putty
  • glaze
  • stain
Sand
Sand


Wood glue and sanding....some pieces require a little extra love to give them a new life.

Repair
Repair


We had to replace to bottoms in a couple of the drawers, which we did after we sanded them down. Look at how nicely they sanded down!

Repair Trim if Needed
Repair Trim if Needed


Some of the intricate trim pieces had lost layers, so hubby to the rescue! He used wood putty to basically rebuild the broken pieces. Teamwork is the best!

Paint
Paint


Did I mention it was a custom order? Blue and gold...not what I would have chosen, but hey, the customer knows what they want! So, here I started painting the decorative pieces and drawers.

Glaze
Glaze


Here is one of the drawers with glaze on it...I decided glaze was a great option to tone down the brightness of the paint colors, and fill in the grooves at the same time.

Stain
Stain


Here I was working on the mirror. I laid the decorative trim on to see how it was going to look. I was a little under the weather, so hubby did the staining for me. It turned out a bit darker than I really wanted. We were putting original mirrors back on, so make sure you have some felt to use as cushion between mirrors and wood!!

DIY Vanity Makeover

And here she is all complete! Decided to paint side panels blue because that dark stain was too much for me. As usual, I forgot pictures of some of the steps...I really need to work on that. The hardware was cleaned up, painted oil rubbed bronze, I dry brushed a little gold on them, and then sealed with poly!

DIY Furniture Makeover

Here is a closer view of the base. I have to admit, she did turn out lovely.


Have you refurbished old furniture yourself? Let me know in the comments below.

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Frequently asked questions
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  • Linda Callies Linda Callies on Oct 03, 2018

    Could you make a princess castle out of the turned upside down desk? at first sight I thought it looked like something my granddaughters would enjoy. Legs looked like torrents, side drawer openings could be made into several floors. Center front decorative strip could be raised to a chosen level to make entrance with a patio. I wish I was as creative as you all but I'll just have to be content to check out the DYI projects on the internet. By the way, you did a beautiful job on the blue & gold desk.

  • Julia Julia on Oct 04, 2018

    I have a vanity just same style but draws have Kane onthem wood outlying, what do o do with the Kane?

  • Candice Pownall Candice Pownall on Mar 23, 2019

    why upside down?i don’t get it

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