A Touch of Grace

I started out by deciding which parts I wanted to keep and which parts I wanted to toss. This being the second vanity I’ve turned into nightstands, I’ve noticed a pattern: the use of nails.

The mirror, along with the middle connecting boards were attached by nails. By using a pry bar I was able to create some wiggle room to pull the nails out with the hammer claw. This allowed me to gently take the mirror off.

After I took the mirror off I set the vanity on its back. Using a hammer, I pounded the connecting boards completely off.

As you may have noticed in a previous picture, 2 wheels were off the vanity. After I had them separated I reattached the wheels.

Now, this vanity had been painted in brown paint with a green stain on top. I knew I wanted to show off their natural wood grain so I went into the long process of removing the veneer. (Find my step-by-step guide on an insanely easy way to remove veneer here!)

After I removed the veneer from the top and drawers, I decided to sand down the veneer on the sides with my sander and handsand the legs with 3m sandpaper.

(The sides were made of thin wood so I decided to sand down the veneer versus pulling it up.)

The natural wood was a little too red for my liking. To help tone down the red I made a water + bleach solution and let it sit in the sun to lighten. I sprayed it very lightly.

Tip: Do not let the bleach solution pool or sit on it for too long. This could make your wood spotty or dry.

Lastly, I used Howard’s Feed-N-Wax product to polish and condition the wood.