Have you ever spotted a piece of furniture at a thrift store or flea market and knew it had potential? Yet, you did not know how to give it a highly needed make over, therefore you did not purchase the item. Do not let that ever happen again! There are so many how-to and DIY videos on the internet that you can learn almost anything you want.
This video demonstrates how to give a thrift store vanity a completely new look and provide tips on how to do the same for similar pieces of furniture.
Serena Appiah is a pro at spotting used furniture and seeing the potential it can have with a little TLC and elbow grease.
She found a French Provincial vanity at a local thrift store for under $10. She knew that a DIY makeover would restore the vanity to a new and gorgeous vanity for any household. She just had to start by spotting the areas that needed extra work and to clean the entire vanity with water and vinegar.
The top of the vanity had many scratches that she knew she would have to sand out. She started with 80 grit sandpaper on the entire top but did not want the marks it left, so she used 150 grit sandpaper too. She used an orbital sander with those two sandpapers but finished the sanding with 220 grit sandpaper by hand.
It might be time consuming to sand the vanity three times, but the end result is smooth wood for the top of the vanity.
Serena knew a major concern was a broken piece of trim on one of the drawers.
She did not want to buy new trim because it would be noticeable against the other trim. The trick she found was using Sugru Moldable Glue! It comes in many different colors and you can mold the glue into the design you need, such as the trim for this vanity.
Make sure to always clean your piece of furniture before painting because the paint will not stick as well.
Serena chose light pink for her paint color. Before she started to paint she took off every piece of hardware, such as handles and knobs. This will create a smoother paint job and will not get paint onto the hardware.
Are you unsure if you should paint over the original wood? Serena has a great tip just for you,
“If you ever have a doubt about painting a piece of wood furniture, you can always do a coat of shellac over the body of the wood and then paint it. That way, if you ever decide you want to strip it later you will have not really gotten into the wood, you will be able to easily strip it because of that protective coat.”
If the first coat looks spotty, all that means is you need more coats of paint, maybe one or two more.
One of the last steps for the vanity was adding sanding sealer to the top of the vanity before painting a few coats of a clear top coat. This provides the top to be amazingly smooth. One extra, but personal, touch Serena included was lining the insides of each drawer with scrapbook paper. This gave each drawer some extra color and fun when opened.
All she had to do was put the vanity back together, hardware and all, before one last top coat to the body. Once it dried, she had an entirely new and beautiful vanity. You would not even recognize the before and after pictures being the same desk!
Big DIY projects, such as a vanity makeover, can seem overwhelming but when you take it step by step and watch online videos you will find it is much easier than originally thought. Everyone can learn how to upgrade a used piece of furniture into a new and fashionable piece of décor for their home.
All it takes is time and replaying an instructional over a few times.
Check out Serena’s full DIY journey with her French Provincial Vanity right below. The finished product is gorgeous!
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