A vintage art-deco style solid wood vanity gets a new life.
She is STUNNING!
I was so excited to become the owner of this vintage solid wood art deco style vanity, and unlike my other projects, this piece was just for me. I purchased her on marketplace from a lovely couple who wished for it to go to an individual who was willing to fix it back to its potential. Challenge accepted!
This blog will explain how I repaired the water stain damage, as well as the few gouged areas throughout the piece. I also share what steps I took to enhance the tone and shine of the solid wood and how I accessorized this beautiful vintage piece. -Ol' Bettie DIY
The before images of this lovely vanity.
Can you also see her potential?
I chatted with the owners for a while as I was looking at their beautiful vintage piece, and they did have a story behind it as to why it had been with them for so long. The couple explained that this vanity holds sentimental value to the husband as it belonged to his late wife from a previous marriage, so he has kept it stored away for many years unable to part with it.
The couple had finally come to the decision to try and make a move on decluttering their home and saying goodbye to select items and furniture in their home that they simply weren't using, and could still be passed on to a new home to be loved. This stunning art deco vanity was one of them.
The gentleman's late wife adored this art deco piece and used it as her own for many years, however, upon getting sick, it became more of a surface to hold daily necessities rather than used for its purpose of a personal vanity. As you could imagine the sentimental connection this man had to the vanity, he kept it for her and had all the intentions to restore it back to its glory one day. That day never came, as life as we know gets in the way, so he finally felt at peace to say goodbye to his late wife's favorite piece of vintage furniture.
While chatting with the couple, I explained to them that I truly admire vintage furniture and believe that pieces like this one had to be given a second life. I shared with them a few furniture refinishing pieces that I have achieved and explained that most individuals would consider painting over this beautiful wood whereas I want to restore and make it shine.
They were very pleased to hear this, as they were choosey on who they were considering selling the piece to. They wanted this piece to be given a new life, be cared for and be used as it was meant to be used, not painted over and eventually end up in a dumpsters.
The water damage was excessive on the top piece of this vanity. The couple informed me the stain was condensation and dripping from a humidifier that had sat on the vanity top for a very long time, hence the extent of the water stains.
Along with the water damage, there were some nicks and gouges here and there as well, but none of this scared me away. I assured them that I will bring this piece back to beauty again and would most definitely send them photos of it once I finished. They happily sold me the vanity, I brought it home and started working on repairing the water stains from the wood immediately.
I was proud to reach out after a month or so to the couple with photos of the brand new art deco vanity they once new, and they were astounded! They were so happy to see the wood grain, the shine and the care put into it. They said how impressed they were with the work I have done to restore it and thanked me for keeping it rather than selling it off to someone who may not care about it or the story behind it.
That was worth everything to me. Now, I use this piece on a daily basis as my hair and makeup vanity, and I love thinking about the history it has seen, and feel lucky every time I am sitting in front of it.
How to repair water stain damage on wood
There was significant water damage over the top piece of this solid wood piece. Luckily, it is actually quite simple to pull those water stains out of the wood, however, it can be a bit time consuming depending on the amount of damage.
All you need is an iron and an old t-shirt.
Step 1: Lay an old cotton t-shirt (blank & white) over the affected area
Step 2: Place the hot iron (no steam) over the t-shirt and hold for a matter of 10 seconds Step 3: Repeat the process until each stain reaches the surface and diminishes
Quick tip: Allow the wood to cool here and there to avoid pushing too much heat on to it.
How to fill wood without losing wood grain
There were a few deep gouges taken out of the wood on this vintage vanity, and I was not about to lose the natural wood finish over them by having to fill and paint over it all. I basically cheated the missing wood grain and painted it back in place. This took some time to achieve the right blend, but it truly does work! I also tried wood crayons, but the areas I was working on were just too big for them to achieve the right coverage.
Here's how I camouflaged the damage:
Step 1: Fill each gouge or scratch with natural toned wood filler until it is just proud of the woods surface, allow to dry fully.
Step 2: Sand the filler down carefully until it is flush and smooth with the wood surface.
Step 3: Get artsy and simply add the wood grain and color back in with some paint and art patience. You want to fill in the background as well as match up any wood grain lines you can.
Quick tip: I mixed together 4 or 5 different brown and red paints until I saw a pallet that would look close to the natural wood's tone. I used a very thin brush for matching up the wood grain lines, a feathered brush for lightly diffusing the lines and a stiff brush for pressing the color in.
Moving along to the pretty stuff
Once I was happy with all my prep work, it was time to move on to the finishing work. I did decide to remove the middle drawer during my prep time as I wanted to have extra leg room while sitting at the vanity, so that piece was not included in this makeover. I also gave all the surfaces a very gentle sanding before moving on to finishing steps to insure a smooth even surface to stain.
Technically, I did not need to put any stain on this vanity as it's tannins would have shown through with just a coat of polyurethane, however, I really wanted it to look brand new and a bit warmer than it was originally. My go to stain is " Early American" by Varathane, so I applied only one coat of it to my furniture piece with an old rag and let it dry. *Just know that this is not a true example of what Early American looks like, it is layered on top of an already warm wood species*
I applied 2 coats of gloss polyurethane and one extra coat on the table top. I knew this top would have makeup, hair product and probably spilt coffee on it on multiple occasions, so I made sure to seal it well.
I kept the original handles, of course, however I did give them a good clean and a coat of Dixie Belle's gold gilding wax to give them a more modern glow. The beautiful round mirror and it's frame had zero blemishes which was a miracle, so I was able to simply sand, stain and poly the same way I did with the table. I always finish the insides of furniture drawers with a nice wood oil or wax to rehydrate the wood, make them smell good and look great. Howard's feeding wax is my go to furniture conditioner.
The finished product did not only make me feel great knowing the past owners were beyond happy with the results and the vanities new life, but it is also extremely useful as a hair and makeup vanity. The 4 drawers on this vanity are tall and long in depth, so a lot can fit in those suckers. I have hair tools in one, extra makeup in one, nails supplies in one and gel nail supplies including the UV light in the fourth.
This vanity fits so much stuff when you look at all of it in a giant pile. I encourage you to search out for a vintage piece like this for your home needs. Not only are you getting a piece of history and saving materials from the landfill, you're getting a piece of furniture that is likely solid wood and will stand the test of time for another 50 plus years.
-Ol' Bettie DIY
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