Vintage Vanity

This was a vanity that was sitting in my mom's storage for a while, and since she had no room for it, it was given to me! As soon as I saw it I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I think that's how the best DIY projects come to be. If you have instant inspiration then it has a better chance of being something great!

I really wish I had of taken a 'Before' picture of this, but my camera decided to be a piece of crap before i started. If you can imagine, this was in really hard shape. It was painted white at some point, because there were traces of the old paint in certain areas, but mostly it was just wood. 

I decided this project would be my first experiment with homemade Chalk Paint, which I was so excited to find a recipe for! First I painted the drawers and top with chalk paint I mixed using Candlewick (a PPG colour), and then distressed the edges with 180 grit sand paper. For distressing and making furniture look old, chalk paint really does the trick! After I was satisfied with my sanding, I applied a layer of Minwax Dark Paste Wax in certain areas (that's what gives it the aged look), and the Natural Paste Wax over the rest of the piece.

For the blue I chose Misty Surf from PPG, it was the perfect of blue and grey and to me looked nice and vintage. I also distressed this and did the same method of using paste wax. 

I encountered one surprise when I started to dismantle the vanity. For some reason, during the many years this thing has been around, someone drilled a second hole in each of the drawers for a handle. This left me in a predicament since I had to find a way to cover the extra hole. Enter these gorgeous handles! It was actually purchased in two parts: the base and the knob. They aren't meant to go together but I think it looks fantastic! A surprise turned good! All together I spent about $22 on the knobs, but I think it was well worth it : )

I really love how this turned out, and I'm sure someone else will agree!