How to Transform Your Bathroom Vanity

Happy day after Christmas to all of you!  I hope  your time with family was extra special and that you were blessed with everything you needed and a little of what you wanted ;).  Each year during this time I reflect on where I’ve been, where I am and certainly where I want to go.   I’m looking forward to what the future holds.

Emperors Silk Vanity

This week I’m hoping to show you the last few projects of 2013.  Here’s one I finished recently that’s sure to inspire.

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A few months ago I painted a kitchen for a client and while I was there she asked me to come back and transform her bathroom vanity.  She had the room wallpapered and wanted to do something dramatic to match it.  We decided distressed Annie Sloan in Emperors Silk would do just the trick.

This is just a basic vanity with thermofoil on the doors and drawers.  If you’ve seen any of my other kitchen re-do’s you know that removing thermofoil is the way to go.  (Here’s a post about removing thermofoil if you’d like to know more about that.)

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After removing the thermofoil from the doors and drawers I painted everything out with ASCP in Graphite.  I did this for several reasons.  One because painting the red directly onto the white would have taken several coats and wouldn’t have been as rich as I wanted.  And two because the distressing wouldn’t have turned out the way I liked.

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Notice below, I painted the Graphite on very thick and random.  The cabinet was really smooth and new.  I wanted it to look as old and worn as possible.  This technique is great when you’re going to distress and dark wax because it adds texture and later helps the wax to have ridges and grooves to hang out in.

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After all the Graphite was dry I paint the Emperor’s Silk on-top.  I applied this coat with random strokes as well.

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I did two thin coats of red because I wanted the black to show through in areas.

 

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Then it was time for the wax.  First I applied clear wax all over and then I applied the dark wax over it.  Once it was dry I lightly buffed it and distressed the edges with a fine grit sandpaper.

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You can see here the wax really hung on in the raised areas and added lots of depth to the piece.  Then all that was left to do was install the hardware and decorate.

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My client and I loved the look of the red rug…..

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but ultimately decided that turquoise was the way to add a pop of color!

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Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment below and let me know what you think.

Do you have cabinets or furniture you’d like to have painted?  If you are within 1 hour of Fairview TN, email me at farmfreshvintagefinds@gmail.com for pricing and details.

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Favorite Transformations of 2013
Oak Kitchen Cabinets in Annie Sloan Chateau Grey and Reclaim Licorice Part 2 and Reveal

8 Comments

  1. Have you ever painted or other wise worked on cabinets that have old lament covered doors with the wood strip at the bottom? Most condos have these contractor grade cabinets installed. Can the lament be removed then painted. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

    Thanks,

    Sandy

    1. Hi Sandy, I did work on some of these years ago for a friends condo. If you can email me some detailed pictures of them I can give you some tips. farmfreshvintagefinds@gmail.com

      Thanks,
      Beth

  2. donna s lewis says:

    I love the red vanity. I’m redoing my bathroom and I am painting the walls Lenox tan, and trimming out with knotty pine, and making shelves out of knotty pine also. Now is my question, I have order and received copper for the top and a copper pot for the sink, is this going to look ok. I want to put some turq. accents with this also. What do you think?

  3. I love the shower curtain, where did you get it?

    1. Hi Vicki,

      This was a clients home. I’m sorry I’m not sure where they got the shower curtain.

      Thanks,
      Beth

  4. Sarah Taylor says:

    Hello,

    I am working on painting my bathroom vanity. It seems comparable to the one mentioned here. I got the thermafoil off the front of the doors, but I can’t get it to come of the back of the doors. Did you just leave the back of the doors white, or do you have a trick for painting the back of the door the same color as the outside of the vanity?

    Thanks,

    Sarah Taylor
    Athens, GA

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