Vanity Re-do, Part 1

Good day to you all!

My first project is one I have seen a few times on Pinterest and many of the gorgeous blogs online.  I've had this vanity for about 10 years, so when Mr. M and I got married, I thought I'd bring it to our new house and eventually find a great place for it.  However, I have yet to make it work anywhere because it's just too dark for my tastes.  (Unfortunately, I forgot to get a real before pic, so hopefully you can settle with this one.)  It's beautiful, and I'd like to give it to any daughters I have one day, because it's extremely sturdy, but I can't stand to wait that long with this thing!

I've long admired the House of Smiths blog for the tips provided, and I really applied this one for my job today.  I am going to spray paint my first piece of furniture!  From what I've done so far, this should be quite simply applied to many types of furniture, including desks and tables.

Materials:

Drop cloth - I used a cheap plastic one which moved a lot, maybe you'd be better going for heavier
Sand paper - I used this one here, which worked fine, but I'll definitely be getting a sanding sponge next time.

Dry cloth - Any old rag to wipe off the furniture after sanding, because you don't want any dust in your paint
Screw-driver - Just used to remove hardware
Tape - My vanity has a mirror, which I did NOT want to get paint on, so I taped it off.
And of course you'll need spray paint!

Steps:

1. Remove any hardware from the vanity and take out all drawers.  You want to do this right, so you'll need to get all the possible surfaces.  Don't do it with drawers in, like I thought I would originally!

2. Sand down any surfaces that you think are even remotely glossy.  I don't know if this step can be skipped, but I didn't think so.

This is a drawer sanded and wiped, ready to go.  All the gloss isn't gone, but I thought it'd be enough, mostly because I'm impatient.

2. Wipe thoroughly.  I mean it, don't miss those curved edges, or else!

3. Spray!  Use those tips I linked from the House of Smiths.  I did use this handle to work more steadily, as well as keep my hands away from the nozzle.  (I bought it from Home Depot for like twice as much!  Boo!)

Really don't be afraid of spraying, I'm so imperfect about it, I was worried I wouldn't use the tips I've read well enough and end up with streaky, ruined drawers.  Not true!  This spray paint/primer is SO forgiving!  Look at that top picture, so beautiful!

4. Repeat for all surfaces involved.  It did take me about two hours to get everything prepped and sprayed, and I'm not done.  It wasn't hard though, just slightly time consuming.

These are the legs to a small stool (shown later) that came with it.  If those tops of the two on the left look shiny, it's just because it's still drying, not glossy.  It's very matte.

When I taped this mirror off, I used a bag from Home Depot so I wasn't wasting, especially since, as you can tell, it took a LOT of tape to get perfect edges.  Be precise, you don't want to let the paint get on your mirror at all, or any wood to show through the paint.

Now here's why it's a two-part post.
1. I ran out of paint and it seems my local Wal-Mart doesn't carry this brand.  Home Depot is not close enough to make a trip right now.  I'll get it this weekend.
2. I can't get this fabric off the stool top!

It was attached with staples and then wedged under the wooden base for the legs.  I have no idea how the base is attached!  I stuck a butter knife under it (which I was using to get the staples out), and found NO glue, screws or nails.  It's like it's on there like magic.  I'm going to ask Mr. M to look at it.  Once I get it off, I'll finish the stool and paint the actual vanity body.

Until next time, have a beautiful day!