Craiglist Vanity Desk Makeover

A couple of weekends ago, my daughter was home for a three-day weekend. She drove me down to San Jose to pick up a little vanity desk I had seen on Craiglist which I thought would be perfect for her room. I had previously exchanged a few messages with its owner and we had agreed on a price that made me very happy.  I’m not a regular on Craiglist. On the contrary. This was one of the few times I visited the site and I was lucky to come across this vanity.  I liked its curved front, its claw feet and the large drawer. Also, the size was perfect for a bedside table. On our way back home, with the vanity desk on the back seat, we stopped for some paint. We picked a soft grey that we both liked (it’s amazing when you can agree on a color with your child!) and headed back home where I immediately started working on the desk.

The veneer on the top was bubbled in some places and cracked or even missing in others. Instead of gluing it back on,  I thought that removing the veneer completely would be a good idea. But this was an idea that just gave me an extra work! I had to use a chisel to remove most of the veneer…and lots of patience.

I didn’t regret the additional work, though, because of the beautiful raw wood that was revealed. I patched a few small holes, sanded the surface and started painting, all to the best of my ability.

The inside part of the drawer was in really bad shape. Underneath the plastic adhesive liner…

there was a huge stain that looked like spilled ink.

After a couple of coats of paint, the vanity desk was an entirely new piece of furniture! The grey shade that we picked was definitely a good choice, soft and warm, suitable for a bedroom and a perfect match with the DIY Pottery Barn Inspired Headboard With Embroidered Monogram.

For the inside part of the drawer, I thought I would go with a little surprise and paint it a different color.  I chose a pale girly pink.

And to make things even more interesting, I wrote a little something that would make my daughter smile every time she opens the drawer.

Even though the paint I used had primer, I had to apply  many, many coats of pink paint to cover the black stain completely.

I liked the contrast of the pink against the grey so much that I painted most of the sides of the drawers in pink, too. With some painter’s tape I achieved perfect crisp lines.

I also replaced the old knobs with new ones.  Aren’t they gorgeous?

The front curved side that I liked so much looks even better in grey.

And so do the claw feet, especially now that they’re covered with fresh paint and are nice and clean. I wish we had wooden floors in the bedrooms, too! The details on the claw feet would show so much better!

I have to admit that  I did like the natural wood color of “before” version of this vanity. The light warm brown reminded me of the furniture in my mother’s and aunt’s  room when they were little girls. I have memories of their heavy beds and dressers because I used their room when spending summers at my grandmother’s Irene. I did challenge myself and thought it over before taking out the paint brushes because after all, I’ m not the kind of “paint it all” girl. Most of our furniture is composed of natural wooden pieces. However, in this room, and next to this upholstered bed, I think that I made the right choice painting this vanity desk!

As my daughter is away from home most of the time, there aren’t many of her personal items left in her room. I only  added some flowers from the garden and a box, just for the pictures today.

I guess all that’s left to do now is to accessorize.  All DIY, of course!

Materials

• Behr Ultra paint, Anonymous in satin finish
• Behr Ultra paint, Powdered Blush in satin finish
• Drawer pulls:  Ripe Melon Pulls in cream, Anthropologie