Vanity/Desk Before & After

Since the publishing of the post where I showed my refinished dresser, I have had enough requests to warrant the writing of a tutorial.  So, in the next few days I will be describing how I refinish furniture. 

For now, I will show you the before and after of one of the pieces that I will be using in the upcoming tutorial.  This is a vanity that I picked up at a yard sale.  The family was moving and I managed to get it at a reasonable price. 

It is a decently made piece of furniture.  There is a little bit of wooden veneer, but the majority is solid wood.  There was some sort of paint/faux finish on it, even though it may look like plain wood in the picture. 

I brought it home and realized it smelled overwhelmingly like perfume.  A couple days outside in the heat and sunshine fixed that problem up for me, though.  Better perfume than smoke any day, I say.  I find that smoke smell is just soooo hard to get rid of. 

I refinished the top and the drawers, and painted the body.  I used the diy chalk paint version, and I can honestly say I'm not a huge fan of it.  It's too gritty for my liking.  In  my opinion, any time you may save at the beginning by not having to sand is lost by having to sand all the grit off at the end. It does come smooth, though, once you sand it, so no worries there. 

It's a super fun piece now.  I lined the drawers with some wallpaper.  I bought a whole brand new roll of it at a yard sale for one whole dollar.. can't beat that price!

One of my favorite details on this piece is the string of little balls down the front.

So the whole thing wasn't overwhelmingly in your face turquoise, I painted the mirror white.  Honestly, until I went to paint it, I didn't even notice how pretty the detailing was at the top of the mirror.  One thing about white paint- it is good at accentuating details. 

So, stick around if you want to get the low down on how I refinished the top and the drawers on this piece.

Update: You can catch the tutorial Here!

Linking to:

Domestically Speaking: Power of Paint Party

PHJ Designs: Totally Transformed Tuesday

 Southern Lovely: Show & Share
The 36th Avenue
The Shabby Creek Cottage: Transformation Thursday
The Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday
My Repurposed Life: Catch As Catch Can
Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday
Homespun Happenings: Rustic Restorations
Redoux
Chic on a Shoestring
The Cottage Market: Junkin' Joe's  Linky Party
Tatertots & Jello: Weekend WrapUp Party
Funky Junk Interiors: Saturday Night Special
Classy Clutter: Spotlight Saturday
My 1929 Charmer
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Primitive & Proper: POWW