An Antique Vanity Gets Un-Blued

"Wow, that's a lot of blue", was my immediate reaction upon seeing this sweet little antique vanity/desk at the flea market last week. One of my picker friends had texted me to see if I was interested, I said sure, but was still surprised when I saw it in person. It was really blue. If that blue had had a name, I assume it would be "Sticky Blue" because it's so damn tacky. Actually, now that I think about it, it's the exact same shade of cobalt as 1/8th of my erstwhile neighbor's house, and sadly it's the 1/8th of the house that faces my yard, *sigh*.

        So the blue had to go, and it's always a worrying process, removing paint from an antique veneer top. Often these pieces were initially painted because the top had been damaged at some point, and paint was the cheapest, quickest fix. Despite my trepidation I found an absolutely immaculate mahogany top hidden underneath the blue, and two lower coats of white, Hot Diggity!!

        I sanded the case to smooth out the craptacular previous paint job, and painted it in a fresh antique cream, distressed, and dark waxed. I kept the original pulls but recolored them in a verdigris green. This piece was custom for a client, and done to match another antique mahogany piece, a server, that they purchased from me a few months ago. I think they're going to look lovely together!!