A Vanity of Many Colors

And so there I was, yes, at a yard sale, when I saw the home owner taking money and using this vanity for her desk.  It didn't have the mirror attached, in fact, I didn't know it came with a mirror.  I quickly asked her if it was for sale, not only was it for sale for a great price but it also had the original mirror that came with it.  The owner of the vanity told me she got this from her mother thirty years back and that her mother had had it for at least fifty years that she knew of.  It had been in their family for a long time but she had so much stuff that she needed to part with some of it.  The shape is really pretty on this piece, and I loved the knobs. 

I didn't care for the stenciling that was done on it originally.  It almost looked like a marker was used to out line the stencil work, it had to go.  So finally it was my turn to use the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  Just like everyone else, I was so excited I couldn't wait.  The person who wanted this vanity asked that it be painted in just a slight, slight hue of blue, almost unseen.  So when I got my Louis Blue and Old White Chalk Paint I knew I'd have to mix them to get the right color.  Since this paint costs so much I didn't want to mix too much and waste any, so guess what?  Your right, you've done it too, right.  I didn't have enough of the same color, and I never could match the colors again.  I probably had three different hue's of  light blue on it.  It really kind of looked cool, but I needed it the same color.  Here it is with different colors.

I had to really sand the top to get below the stains and dings in the wood.  I used my favorite stain, Rustoleum, in Early American color.  Then I sealed the top with Min Wax brush on satin poly.  I finally bit the bullet and mixed up enough paint to make sure I had enough to paint the whole vanity twice if I needed to. I got it all painted and then used the poly satin rub on, on all of it.  I like the control I have with the rub on poly verses the paint brush application when it's not a flat surface..  I then glazed it with Modern Modern Masters  glaze (in dark).  The paint specialist  highly recommended it to me because she liked it so much and had used it repeatedly.  She demonstrated it for me in the store on a white cupboard and I was sold.  I really liked the consistency of it, and the color is great.

The pictures don't show the glaze very well, but it really looks great in contrast to the light blue.  I'm not fond of waxes yet, I still prefer the rub on poly, you know, "the old tried and true".  Also, once the poly is on then you can glaze with ease, then reseal it.

I really love how the satin finish on the top looks, she turned out so pretty, it will look great in any room.  I didn't clean up the knob's because they have so much character with the aging on them.  I might change my mind, but for now she'll stay this way.