11/12/2012

Project - Reviving A Vintage Vanity Table

For a while now I've been on the look out for a vanity table, one of those old fashioned ones with the mirrors and drawers - basically somewhere better to do my hair and makeup than leaning over the bathroom sink.

The ones I found on eBay that I liked cost around £190, and to be honest there was no chance in hell I was paying that, especially with postage added on top. So I was very very lucky when a friend from work said that she had sold one on eBay recently for £50, and the buyer hadn't turned up on the agreed collection date. Must have been fate.

So on Friday I went with my dad to collect it, and the measurements were perfect for the spot I wanted it to be put in my bedroom, plus it was the exact style I was looking for. Here's a picture of the table as it was when I picked it up:



As you can see the mirror was painted gold, which clashed with my room, plus there was very little light getting to the table from my main light source, and there was no stool.

So I took a trip to Ikea, where I picked up a flat packed stool (which luckily for me matched perfectly with the style of the table, and colourwise it was spot on), and around £30 of lighting to make sure I could see exactly what I was doing when applying makeup.

Then in B&Q I picked up a can of wood spray paint for £7, and after taping and papering the mirror to prevent any damage to the glass, I started spraying.



In the end I did two coats of paint on Saturday, left it to dry overnight then applied two further coats on Sunday, which finished the can.

Once the paint was completely dry, my brother helped me carry the mirror up to the table, and we set to work putting up the lights.



The lights stuck onto the mirror were a set of thin strip lights from Ikea, costing £13 for the 4 strips. These are all attached to the same power plug, and come supplied with double sided sticky tape, which meant threading the wires through the mirror and applying them to the glass was a doddle. Next, we hammered picture hooks into the wall in line with the sloped ceiling, on which we hung fairy lights for a bit of background lighting.

The last and probably most important light source is the clip on lamp, also from Ikea (£10) which is manouverable so it can be angled towards the face when applying makeup.

I'll soon add a separate post with how I've organised the drawers, which will contain all my makeup, hair products, nail polishes etc.

Charlotte
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