January 4, 2010

bedroom overhaul: I'm so vain

I know I promised a peek into our bedroom overhaul a few months ago, to no avail. Fear not, faithful followers — our bedroom is still a bit of a work in progress, due to a teensy shortage of funds to do everything I wanted to do, and the fact that the holidays ate up most of my creative inspiration (and aforementioned fundage) for the last month.

While I still have a bit more work to do before I show you all of the before and afters (I was going to call it "the big reveal" but let's face it, my home decorating skills are nowhere near being awesome enough to call it that), I thought I'd at least show you one bedroom project that is complete: my vanity!

Before:

After:

I have never had a little place all to myself to keep my jewelry and makeup — a place to sit each morning and primp as I begin each day. With the help of my best friend, Kelli, who gave me a great desk and chair for free (in exchange for me buying her dinner on our monthly dinner date — deal!), I now have my own little beauty depot. And let me tell you, I absolutely love it.

As you can see in the before photos above, the desk and chair were originally painted white and had white wooden knobs. It was in great condition — I just made it over a bit to fit with the rest of our new bedroom decor.

Nick sanded everything down for me using a power sander, and I then got to work painting the desk in Glidden's Totally Teal color (with a semi-gloss finish). The paint went on so easily, it was almost too easy. One coat probably would have sufficed, but I went over everything with a second coat for good measure.

I switched out the wooden knobs with some glass ones found at Anthropologie; I also picked up a new mirror at HomeGoods and a small accent lamp from Target to add a little light. I topped it off with my jewelry stand and mirrored toiletry tray, put four 1" brads in the wall from which to hang my necklaces, and I had a lovely new vanity!

Here's the rundown of how much everything cost:

desk and chair: $25.00 (dinner for my friend as a thank you for giving this to me)
one quart of Glidden Totally Teal semi-gloss paint: $8.96
five glass knobs from Anthropologie: $40.00
new mirror from HomeGoods: $29.99
accent lamp from Target: $9.99
mirrored tray: free (it was my Nana's)
jewelry stand: free (anniversary gift from Nick)
1" brads to hang necklaces: free (already had these)

Total for project: $113.94

Is it totally chic and representative of amazing interior design? Absolutely not. But is it functional and cute? I think so. I would have loved some better lighting and maybe a prettier mirror that stands alone, but the items I found were inexpensive and still decent looking. Most importantly, I have a nice place to sit each morning to get ready for my day, all of my jewelry and makeup have their own place, and it makes me happy. It's also great to have the little bit of extra storage that it provides.

Whaddya think?

20 comments:

  1. I am loving this! You have the wheels turning in my head now - hopefully I can be as creative, and economical, as you soon!

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  2. It looks great! I painted my closet doors that color in my parents house and I think my mom still holds a grudge against me for that :)

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  3. Pretty! I love the color you chose and the glass knobs make all the difference.

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  4. I think it's gorgeous and am totally adding this to my list of things our house needs NOW!

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  5. Love love love it! The color and knobs are perfect - I would never have guessed that it wasn't the original design. Great work!

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  6. Thanks, ladies! I absolutely love sitting there each morning to get prettyfied.

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  7. Brooke, that looks great! I love your color choice, teal of course ;-)
    P.S. Glass knobs are my favorite I want to redo my dressers w/ fresh paint and glass knobs too.

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  8. Gorgeous! I am a total vanity coveter, so of course, I am incredibly jealous. ;)
    The colour is great!

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  9. Wow great job Brooke! I'm so inspired to tackle my projects now!

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  10. I love it! What a cute little sitting area!

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  11. Love that color! So fantastic!!

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  12. Great job! That would also make a great sewing table if you ever decided to pick up sewing as hobby as well. :) (I love Anthro but I found that their knobs don't really last for daily use)

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  13. I love it! The teal color is really perfect for the table. What a pretty place to start the day.

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  14. I love it! That color is perfect!

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  15. i love it! You're inspiring me to tackle a dresser I bought at the thrift store a long time ago...

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  16. I'm calling BS that you got that desk for $25 + dinner to your friend. I bet you're actually missing an arm and a leg, too. At least that's what I would have charged to let that gem go! :P

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  17. Are you kidding me?! This looks great! If I had room in our master to do something like this, I totally would. Right now, all of my pretty necklaces and such hang in my closet...where it is so dark & packed, I forget about half of them!

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