Before I start sharing this project I want to take the time to thank Lisa at Shine Your Light for her new monthly Before/After party. This party theme lights a fire under my derriere as in the beginning of the month I pick a project and have committed myself to complete it by the months end. Last month I linked up Emmy’s Toadstool table. This month I made a loftier goal- painting the guest bath vanity. And it is done! So thank you, Lisa!
Ok, so if you recall (or maybe you have blocked its ugly golden oak-ness from your memory!) here is our guest bathroom before…
Not horrible- it had decent bones. The tile floor isn’t bad, the countertop isn’t bad and the cabinet is functional. The mirror was recently framed out with a MirrorMate frame that I silver leafed. That was the first step in making this bathroom more “ours”. The next step was painting the vanity, and this past weekend I had the perfect window of opportunity. Chris went to visit his sister and her family, and I brought the kids to my parents so I had Friday night through Sunday morning ALL TO MYSELF. It was glorious!!!!!
Friday while the kids were both at school I got started. I had already removed the old hardware and filled in holes. I brought my sander into the bathroom and shut the door so dust didn’t get all over the house and sanded in the bathroom.
As you can see here the sides are not wood, but pressboard. Still, you can sand and paint- you just have to be careful.
Once it was sanded, I got to work priming. I primed the body, and then primed each of the drawers but put them in place while they dried. The doors were removed and primed and sat in the bathtub to dry. 🙂
This was the HARDEST part- the tiny gap on the left side of the vanity needed to be painted. I used a small roller just to reach in there, but used it in a brushing instead of rolling motion. And let me tell my my hand is pretty scraped up from having to get in there by the door molding as well. And I may have hit the wall a few times, but that’s ok because it will be painted soon!
Once it was primed and ready, I sanded lightly to smooth it out, and then put my first coat of paint on… I used the Lake Champlain left from my sideboard which I love. But I did not like it here. In this small room with poor lighting it was just too much.
I slept on it Friday night and when I woke up the first thing I did was walk into the bathroom and make my decision… NOPE. I did not like it. Of course, I have wanted to spend no money, so I searched my paint stash. I had a beautiful softer blue, Sherwin Williams Tidewater, leftover from my ombre dresser. I thought it would be just what I needed! So two more coats of paint later, I was finally satisfied! I waxed the whole piece and here is what it looked like….
Now I honestly didn’t think I would be revealing this vanity today because I planned on getting some new knobs. But I checked my stash just in case, and I found some cool octagonal hematite finished knobs that I thought looked cool. So, I was able to avoid spending money, and even so, I bought these knobs a while back for 99 cents each at the Habitat ReStore.
So because I hoard shiny pretty things I had those knobs, I am able to share it with you today! You may also notice in these pictures that the rest of the bathroom has been de-woodified; I have removed all the wooden accessories and prepped the walls for painting!(ok, except the switch plates which need to be changed of course!) The closet door will also get painted.
Here is a close up of the knobs…
With just the changes of the mirror and the vanity so far, the bathroom already feels lighter and brighter and much more like ours!
