Sometimes great things are hiding in plain sight… and under some less-than-cute finishes. That's the case with a lot of furniture pieces that get tossed on the side of the road.
While the original owners might not want them anymore, clever crafters can see when a piece has good bones, but just needs a little extra attention to really shine.
We saw it happen with a plain old bench that was given a boost of country charm, and it turns out that with a little vision, just about anything can be made great.
In Argentina, blogger and crafter Marcela Pena came into possession of an old vanity with a great shape and mirror, but found the dark wood was too heavy-looking, not what she wanted for a young woman's bedroom. It was also quite plain, and needed some jazzing up.
Luckily, Pena is a clever crafter with a vision. She took the plain vanity and turned it from drab to fantastical with lots of color and feminine accents. It now looks like a designer piece, but it was completely done at home!
Check out her makeover below, and get inspired to breathe some new life into any old pieces you might have.
[H/T: Capitulo Dos Vintage]
This was the vanity as Marcela Pena found it. It had plenty of storage space, a solid build, and an interestingly shaped mirror, but she found the dark wood and plain doors to be too heavy and old for the look she was going for, which was romantic, frilly, and feminine.
She started off by priming the piece in an antique white color. On top of that, she used not paint, but a colored wax in "Dior Pink" to create variations of color rather than a solid coat.
The colored wax gave a cloud-like texture to the surface.
Pena also wanted to fancy the piece up a bit. Originally, it was very plain, even a bit stark.
She started attaching some wooden ovals she found at the craft store onto the center of the doors, and painting the doors the same antique white as she's used to prime the dresser.
The doors also got some decoration.
This pattern was simply downloaded from the internet and transferred onto the wood.
The scrollwork was outlined in acrylic paint.
As for the ovals, Pena decoupaged on a print of Fragonard's painting The Swing. This fluffy, rococo painting perfectly captured the feeling she was going for.
She also filled in the scrollwork with some related colors.
She then attached the doors and added a decorative knob.
Around the edges and corners, she rubbed on a gold-colored wax for a princessy take on the distressed look.
The insides of the cabinets got a makeover, too, with some paint and decorative paper.
And you can't have a vanity without a cute chair to sit on. This chair was also a DIY makeover by Pena.
Pena opted to keep the original mirror, age-spots and all. She felt it gave the piece character and lent to its shabby-chic appeal. And it's certainly got much more character than it did before!
SHARE this project to spread some DIY inspiration among your crafty friends!
