An Antique Vanity in Pale Blue

I dream about furniture and antiques constantly, almost every night, along with tsunamis and Jay Baruchel... But I digress. One of the most common dreams I have is that somehow I find my way into a situation where wonderful objects are dirt cheap, or free, and I get to have a free for all, grab and go extravaganza.

           So Friday night that particular dream came true, minus the tsunami part, which would have severely hampered my furniture transporting efforts. My dear friend Jess spotted a listing on craiglist for free furniture, lots and lots of free furniture, a house full of free furniture. I was off on the road delivering pieces to clients so she acted on my behalf, arranging pick up etc. I mean, damn Jess. You killed it.

          We got there Friday night and I was more than a little cautious. Generally speaking, free stuff is usually pretty crappy. This was very much not the case with this group of objects- stunning immaculate mid century and antique pieces, and the people could not have been nicer! They were moving to Texas on short notice and just fine their stuff a good home. It took two trips, with so SO much heavy lifting, but it was well worth the exertion. Here's the first piece from the group- an antique walnut vanity made c. 1920.

          I sanded, stained, and sealed the three level top and painted the case first in a bright azure blue and then in a softer robin's egg blue that I've named 'Jess's Blue' to get a pretty layered effect when I distressed. I kept the original hardware because it's perfect for the piece.  I paired the vanity with an antique solid walnut side chair made c.1880 as it's just perfect perfect for it. I'm sitting at the vanity as we speak, typing this post. This lovely vanity is all ready to find a new home!