This little vanity took waaay longer than I anticipated.  I started working on it in February but then quickly realized that it was going to need a significant investment of time. So, it was moved to a corner of the workshop where it sat in a rather lonely, sad state until I could carve out the time needed to work on it. 

Photo: Sky Lark House

The biggest challenge was repairing the water damage that had occurred on this piece of furniture. Still, I could see that this beautifully constructed piece of furniture had a lot of potential. It was just going to take time, patience and persistence. This piece dates from the Victorian era and was originally painted in what was known as “Cottage Style”.  It’s important to note, that without the repairs, the existing piece of furniture was not really useable.  The drawers didn’t function and paint was flaking and peeling off from exposure to moisture. 

Photo: Sky Lark House

I talked about how the drawers were repaired in this post HERE. 

Fixing the drawers was probably the most labor intensive part.  Once I was able to fix the warped drawers, then the body of the piece just needed to be stripped, sanded and painted.

Photo: Sky Lark House

As you can see in the photo above, the drawers were constructed using dovetail joints.  Also, the entire piece of furniture was made out of solid wood.  

Photo: Sky Lark House

It is such a pleasure to open and close the drawers now. They are smooth and functional.  The fronts are no longer warped. 

I decided to leave the drawer fronts unpainted because the wood I found underneath the painted wooden panels was so beautiful.

Photo: Sky Lark House

There are those cute little wheels that are original to the piece!  I wish more modern furniture had wheels.  They are so functional.  Particularly for large and heavy pieces of furniture.  it’s much easier to wheel something out of the way than to have two people lift it up and move it. 

After striping the old paint away, wiping it down with denatured alcohol and sanding it – I used MMS milk paint in the color Typewriter.  Finally, this piece is sealed with hemp oil.

Photo: Sky Lark House

Now that summer is winding down, I feel fall is creeping in.  The color I chose was influenced by the changing season.  Back furniture that is slightly distressed always looks great in the fall. Particularly with dried florals and gourds.  

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the dried Pampas Grass and Bunny Tail Grass that I ordered.  

Photo: Sky Lark House

It’s always fun to play around with styling.  This little bright green Rex Begonia is planted in the half of a coconut shell.  I purchased the plant that way. 

Photo: Sky Lark House

The antler sheds are intertwined in such a way that they create a perfect nest for the coconut shell.

Although this project took longer than anticipated, it was definitely worth the wait.  Now she’s ready for her new home.  She will be heading to my booth at Stone Soup Antiques soon.

Photo: Sky Lark House

As an aside, I had about a two hour window of time to photograph this vanity before tropical storm Henri brought a bunch of rain to our region.  It was the “calm before the storm”.

Thank you for stopping by the blog today.  I hope you found some inspiration to work on a project that is perhaps waiting in the corner of your workshop.