When Carrie found this vintage vanity at a garage sale, the large center mirror was missing, the finish was in desperate need of some TLC, and the drawers were full of dead bugs. Despite the obvious condition problems, and the fact that she herself had no need for a vanity, Carrie knew this lovely piece deserved a second chance to grace a home. After a little reflection on the piece and on her actual needs, Carrie was able to give her secondhand vanity a new lease on life.
Though Carrie had no need for a vanity, she was in the market for narrow nightstands to grace her bedroom; she had been living without a nightstand for three years. Carrie was prepared for a complicated deconstruction process, but was delighted to discover that she only needed to remove a few screws to reduce the vanity to its composite pieces. Once the the two sides were separated, Carrie painted them a deep blue-grey and added them into her bedroom. This project is a great example of the creative reuse of an existing piece to better meet the current needs of the owner.
For more details of Carrie's creative vanity project, check out her blog post 1 vanity + 1 good idea = 2 nightstands.
Image: Photos by Carrie at Lovely etc.
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this is a great idea to bring new life to a piece. and i love the hardware.
Ok, I know we see a lot of "put some paint on it!" makeovers, but that really is fantastic.
I love the color.
They look great! How perceptive of you to see what they could become.
This is such a great idea. Carrie, you really have the "eye."
That was not what I was expecting. Looks great! My grandmother had similar vanity with a broken center mirror. My dad added a series of slats and then she could clip her (extensive) collection of earrings to them.
"After" is beautiful!
Brilliant! Great idea and wonderful execution. I like what you transformed it into very much.
OK, that's fabulous.
This is a great idea. It totally fits in with the post a few weeks ago about types of furniture that are essentially obsolete.
Jealous of these two!
Beautiful!
Yup - had the same feeling upon seeing two vanity ends being sold for very little - the seller felt like she didn't know what to do with them because they were split apart. Luckily the wood on mine was in good shape - I just stained the front two different shades (whatever was around, knowing me), and put new knobs on them. They've served different purposes, but now they're my nightstands, each with a piece of marble on top, that conveniently broke into 2 pieces a long time ago! (also a bargain buy, from the discards section of a marble/stone warehouse.)
Amazing! I can't tell you how many time I've seen vanities at yard sale and thought, That's got great bones but what would I ever do with a vanity???
Wonderful idea.
My grandmother did the same thing to a similar vanity she inherited. It was likewise in poor shape (based on what she told me - this was well before my time). She's passed and I ended up with the bedside tables.
Unexpected and totally lovely!
Very nice!! Stylish! ;) I'd love to have something like that in my room! Good salvage job, I'll remember it for when the time comes ;)
These turned out very nice! I was expecting it to turn into a bathroom vanity. I like the nightstands even better!
I just wonder what happened to the mirror. That was pretty fabulous.
Hey now. That's clever! They look wonderful - I love the proportions with the long limby legs.
Nice work.
I think it great that she was able to see the possibilites of this old piece - Kudos!
But but but . . .what happened to the center hinged mirror?
Wow, I have pretty much the EXACT same vanity, sitting in my garage and about to be Craigslisted. My mirror is in somewhat better shape, but it's also very old & rickety. This has got me thinkin'!
good one !
I did this with an old vanity I found curbside. Only difference: I cut the legs down at one of the narrow spots so they were better suited to sit beside the bed. They worked wonders for years and years! Nice job on these!!
i love this, i see the mirror is broken? I too wondered what she did with it til i realized it was not there. great idea and ummmm i'll be stealing it if i get the chance!!!!!!!
Great job!
I never would have thought of doing that! What an awesome idea!
I agree, it's nice!
The mirror part would be great as a bathroom mirror.
Would've left those cool casters on, myself.
I'm praying there are not other bugs living there...
Clever.
i have been wanting to do the exact same thing with an art deco vanity! i need narrow nightstands, too. nicely done!
very nice!
Creative! That is one of the best 'afters' I have ever seen.
Very creative!
I *love* the proportions of the new dressers.
I never would have thought of that. I have a similar vanity that is in great shape but really it is a space waster because I prefer to have a mirror hung on the bedroom door rather than having a big piece of furniture like this in my room.
We did this with a vanity.Now I am using them in my living room.Great idea!They also make excellent bedside tables.I have been moving mine around the house for years.
This is so smart. I've been looking for a pair of cute, narrow, afforable nightstands and they've been really hard to find.
I was not expecting the deconstruction or the color choice, but both are really great. The former casters, polished up, would look divine! on those nightstands.