Giving vintage a second chance
What is better than thrifting a vintage gem that needs a little TLC for a fraction of the cost of a brand new piece that is made with poor materials that won't outstand time? Giving that stellar find a new life by the art of DIY of course! Vanities, dressers, desks, mirrors, chairs, all of the above please! I adore giving a fresh start to a good vintage piece. Explore the different DIY furniture projects I have accomplished here on A Second Life.
-Ol' Bettie DIY
01
1950's Dresser Set
The DIY furniture refinishing project that started it all. This was my first furniture flip which I accomplished about 3 years ago using Dixie Belle paint products. Luckily, there was not a whole lot of damage to cover and with a good primer (Boss by Dixie Belle) this piece was lovely to paint. I used 2 coats of the Dixie Belle paint color "Fluff", gold gilding wax to highlight all the horizontal and vertical grooves on the drawer faces and finished it all with Dixie Belle gator hide top coat. I lined the drawers with a geometric peel and stick material which I purchased from Amazon, gave the hardware a good clean and a coat of gold gilding wax and it was ready to sell! Sounds quick and easy, but believe me, this took me ions to complete as a newbie. Gotta start somewhere!
02
1950's Buffet Cabinet
I scored this 1950's solid wood buffet or sideboard if you will from marketplace for $40 envisioning it to be a stellar mid-century modern bar cabinet or display. Once I prepped this piece by cleaning, removing unnecessary material, sanding and fixing any issues, I started to paint the frame and restore the wood faces. The paint color I used for this DIY project was "Caviar" by Dixie Belle paint which is a soft black. The existing wood was very warm toned, so I did not try to change that, however brought it back to life with "Early American" stain by Varathane plus their high gloss polyurethane as a top coat. I dressed up the walls with a geometric pattern peel and stick material I found on Amazon, added a clever wine glass hanger under the top piece for extra storage, shined up the handles with gold gilding wax by Dixie Belle paint and got this piece listed back on marketplace to sell within 2 days of posting.
03
1930/40's Vanity with mirror
What a BEAUTY this piece is. I was so excited to become the owner of this vintage solid wood vanity, and unlike my other projects, this piece was just for me. There was significant water damage over the top piece and a few areas with pretty deep gashes in the wood. I pulled out all the water stains, filled the voids and got crafty with some paint in order to mimic the look of the wood grain. I did choose to remove the middle drawer to gain some extra chair and leg room,. I gave the handles a coat of gold gilding wax, gave the mirror a good clean up and layered the whole piece in a gloss polyurethane to protect it from my hair and makeup products that would soon cover it. I sit at this beautiful piece of vintage furniture daily to do my hair and makeup and it makes me so happy every time. I encourage you to think twice about buying something brand new as a vanity, why not have a real piece of furniture history instead?!
04
1960's Dresser Set
This 1960's dresser set was a steal of a deal that I snatched up from a lady on marketplace. She was asking $80 for the 2 dressers which was great, but when I saw that the veneer was literally pulling of the bottom drawers in strips, I almost passed on them. The unique curvature and horizontal slot details is what sold me. Luckily, the lady reduced to $40 for both and I was on my way! I removed all the peeling veneer off of the bottom drawers of both units, then prepped the surfaces with wood filler, as well as reused the teared off veneer to patch small missing areas of veneer on the top drawers. I painted the frame and bottom drawers a soft black with a satin top coat to finish. The handles got a nice coat of gold gilding wax to shine them up nice. All in all, it was a fairly quick makeover and we use these dressers on a daily basis.
Before DIY
Before DIY
Before DIY
Before DIY
