home.made.: Arles Yellow and Wood

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Arles Yellow and Wood - Vanity Makeover

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, than you’ve already seen some sneak peeks of my latest furniture redo: the Arles Yellow and Wood Vanity that I redid for my sister.

This vanity started out a little rough around the edges due to the effects of time and weather. The wood veneer was in decent shape, but some of it was chipped, bubbled, or had just plain been ripped off somewhere along the way.

I wanted to remove as little veneer as possible, so I just removed the badly damaged pieces on the top of the vanity, using a chipping tool and a hairdryer (the heat helps loosen the glue holding the veneer in place). I hand sanded those areas as smooth as possible. Next up was using wood filler to patch an area where a large piece of veneer was missing and gluing down veneer that had lifted at the edges.

Once repairs were done, I thoroughly cleaned the vanity prior to painting. (I like using a dilution of Murphy’s Oil Soap.) It took three coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Arles to get the coverage I wanted. I hand distressed a couple of areas, then waxed with clear and dark wax.

I originally intended on painting the drawer fronts, but the original hardware was attached with some type of bolt that I didn’t think I could successfully remove without ruining the veneer. Since the veneer was in really great condition, I decided to leave it as is and just refresh it with an oil and vinegar mixture.

*sigh* They just don’t make hardware like this anymore…

I replaced the original small wooden knobs on the middle drawer with these great turquoise pulls I found at Hobby Lobby. My sis is planning on putting this piece in a room with a yellow/gray/turquoise color theme so I thought they were a perfect fit. (The inside of the drawer is painted Provence to match.)