Ugly Vanity Turned into Gorgeous Night Stands

Early this year I picked up an old vanity that had been converted into a desk  from a Habitat Restore.
I brought it home with high expectations, but once I began taking it apart and got a closer look it intimidated me and I set it aside.
Until now.

The vanity/desk was dirty.  The veneer was peeling and I would need to fill in some areas with thin pieces of wood  in order to turn it into the night stands that I was envisioning. (I apologize that I do not have a before picture)

It took a few months to work up the nerve to tackle this project,

but boy am I glad I did.

I started off this makeover by removing all of the pieces of wood 

that were connecting these two stands.

When I took off the top board, which was the desk top, 

what I found underneath was worse than I had expected.

There was a layer of contact paper covering peeling veneer.

I was disappointed because I wanted to leave the tops natural wood and 

I wasn't sure if that would be possible if I removed the bad veneer, 

but it had to go.

I used a tip from Larissa's blog Prodigal Pieces to remove the veneer 

and it worked like a charm. 

 I removed the veneer from the top of both pieces and from one side of one piece.

The remaining veneer was in good condition.

I was super thrilled that the wood under the veneer on the tops 

was in good condition and took stain well and looked nice.

I rubbed on two coats of Minwax wood stain.

I also added the curvy piece of wood on the back of the top

 to fill in the space where the mirror used to sit when this was a vanity.

Before I could paint the bodies of these night stands

I had to glue some of the dovetail joints on the drawers and 

also had to fill in some places on the front of the drawers and the sides with wood filler.

Once the glue and wood filler were dry I sanded both pieces and primed them.

Then they received two coats of paint.

I lightly distressed the nights stands and hand waxed them with a clear matte wax

which will help protect them and gives a light sheen to them. 

The finishing touches included replacing two matching casters that were missing.

I totally lucked out on that part because I had recently purchased a bowl 

full of vintage casters at a flea market and two of them were the right size!

I also added new glass drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby...

...and painted the inside of the drawers and lined them,

so everything is nice and clean now.

I am so glad I tackled this project!

I love how the night stands turned out.

and I'm a little more confident going into the next furniture makeover.

I took these to my booth this past weekend and I think they have already sold.

I'll admit I was sad to let these go, but we just don't have the space for them.

Have you tackled a daunting project lately?

If so, how did it turn out? I'd love to hear about it.

'til next time,

Linking to: Vintage Inspiration Party