Yard Sale Find...The Perfect Dressing Table

My sister called me from a yard sale and asked me if I was interested in a old 1950's vanity she had found for only $5.00. I said of course, if it doesn't make it into Grace's room I can always sell it!

So here is the vanity in its original condition. It was painted light pink and the paint job itself was a poor one. The top center part of the piece flips up however the mirror was broken and no longer attached to the piece.  But it has such a wonderful shape I fell in love with it and had to start stripping it down.

I began by sanding it down using an electric sander and a grade 60 sandpaper. Then I used a spray-on paint stripper by Klean Strip and used a small wire brushes to remove the paint in the grooves. (When using this product make sure you have on protective gloves, this stuff will burn you if it comes in contact with your skin.)

Once I started removing all the paint I found the whole piece felt cleaner and the ideas of what to do with it started to flow.

             The Finished Product!!!

In keeping with the style of the piece which to me looks very French, I decided to make it a fun and funky statement for Grace's room. All her other furniture is done in a pale and distressed shabby chic finish, so I wanted this vanity to pop in the room. I painted the top and the drawer pulls with Krylon's Metallic Silver in a Brilliant finish. Then I chose to paint the body of the piece in Krylon's Watermelon in a gloss finish. I purchased silver leafing paint at a craft store along with a small angled pain brush and simply filled in the two groves on the face of the vanity with silver.

The whole project took me about two and a half days with one really good day of drying added on before moving it up to Grace's room. The cost for this project was the initial $5 paid for the piece plus approximately what I paid for 4 cans of spray paint. (One can of the silver paint and 3 cans of watermelon paint) The spray stripper was roughly $7, the metal brushes were $3, and $10 for the leafing paint and brush. So total cost was approximately $42 give or take a few cents.
Grace loves her new vanity which can also double as a desk for her room.

This project is linked to the following parties..

DIY Showoff Before and After Party 2013

Savvy Southern Style
Shabby Chic Cottage
Somewhat Simple

It's a very Cherry World

The DIY Club

Domestically Speaking

Addicted 2 Decorating
 Southern Hospitality

Common Ground

Miss Mustard Seed Funky Junk Interiors House of Grace Our DIY Diaries

The Artsy Girl Connection

Knick of Time

Debbiedoo's

Dolly's Designs ~ creative Blog Hop

And was featured over at...