Antique Vanity Makeover

Vanity Before

Vanity After

This vanity had been in my customer's  in-law's family for a few generations. Neglect and time took its toll on this lovely vanity as the scratched surface attested to. However, I assured my customer I would make it shine and indeed, I did. The first step was to remove the hardware then get it ready for sanding and stripping, which was immensely tedious because the sides have a fluted rounded edge which required a metal brush to remove all the previous finishes, all part of the stripping process. 

Vanity With Mirror

Once the vanity was completely stripped and sanded smooth, the next step was staining. I chose a mahogany gel stain that brought out the tones and grain of the cherry. This proved to be a great stain color, because it was extremely rich looking and worked well for this era. Two coats of polyurethane protected the finish, but I always put on three coats for the top, since that gets the most use.

The vanity came with a large, oval mirror with a wood base that tucked neatly inside the rear of the vanity. I stripped the base and cleaned the mirror and it looked better than new. Lastly, I polished the handles, removing years of oxidation and grime, until they gleamed. A lot of elbow grease works wonders on brass. The final product was a completely restored vanity, the results of which my customer was amazed at. And to think they wanted to get rid of it! (Yes, that's our RV in the mirror image of the vanity!) This job was a lot of work, but the finished product was well worth the time and energy it took to make it pretty again. I hope his mother-in-law has many more years of service out of this lovely cherry vanity.