Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Vintage Furniture to Bathroom Vanity

Years ago, well definitely before it was popular or even seen on blogs, I bought an old french music cabinet to turn it into our bathroom vanity. It was a great project - still looks absolutely beautiful and was way less expensive than a modern poly-pac vanity - which I always think are a little boring anyway. You can see my bathroom here if you are interested.

A customer recently contacted me to assist her in doing the same. She had bought two old dressers and asked me to paint them and transform them. At the time I was very busy with my own house renovations so I suggested that instead of me doing all the work, I could show her what to do. I gave her some private painting classes and I also sourced the marble for the top and the crystal handles. For bathroom furniture, I suggest using Dulux AquaEnamel and it's quite different to using chalk paint. Getting a beautiful even sheen takes some practice so that's what I concentrated on in my lessons with Emily. 

The bathrooms turned out beautifully - so elegant and glamorous.



So much personality and prettiness.
If I can help you with a similar project, please contact me on lilyfieldlife@bigpond.com

Fiona xx


7 comments:

  1. That is weird because its exactly what I am in the process of doing with a dressing table I recently purchased....the top had been badly damaged and then the repair was even worse, then covered over with a disgusting varnishing job with a brush that must have lost most of its hairs on the dressing table! I had to sand it down before I even started. I went with Annie Sloan paint in old white with pure white around the detailing. I haven't yet waxed it because I am debating on whether to go with a dark wax clear wax mix or just clear wax, but I love how it looks! I had to chop off about 10cms from the bottom of the legs to account for the marble top we are putting on plus the wash basin is quite high but I think its going to look beautiful when I am finished!

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    1. Hi Di - personally i wouldn't use wax in a bathroom - is it too late to use a clear coat sealer?

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  2. Hi Fiona, Due to your advice on how to get the top off, I was brave enough to do this too - used a small sideboard for the vanity in our ensuite. I didn't end up painting it as I decided the wood added a lovely warmness to the bathroom which is mostly white and grey but added a stone top and gave it a few coats of sealer. I am so pleased with it. The only issue is it is slightly too high with the basin on top - learnt that lesson now! I was wondering what you ended up doing with the vanities in your new upstairs extension? Did you paint some sideboards or cupboards? I don't think I ever saw a photo of them finished..... Cheers Karen

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    1. hi Karen - for the bathroom vanity downstairs that is vintage I cut down the legs of the piece slightly so the basin was the correct height. Upstairs we just used a porcelain wall hung vanities as the bathrooms are on the small side and I wanted the floor space clear. They are quite nice bathrooms - elegant but nothing super special.

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  3. Hi Fiona,
    we are looking for a french style vanity to go with th eother items that we talking about. Can you help us with this? Karen Goodrich Interiors

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  4. Hi Fiona
    I am currently searching for a piece to be able to do this. these two lovely pieces have drawers, how do they house the pipe work needed for the sink drainage? thanks for any advice you can give, still loving your blogs :)

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    1. hi Nicola the drawers have to get modified or gutted to house the pipes.
      thanks Fiona x

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Thanks for taking the time to comment! Sorry if you have trouble commenting, you can always email me at lilyfieldlife@bigpond.com