Cherry Vanity in Stampede (BM)

This vanity gave me such a hard time I'm not even sure I can write about it! It's a beautiful, cherry reproduction vanity in Chippendale style with claw feet and gorgeous details, and that's all the nice things I can say about it. 

A friend had messaged me and told me she had it sitting in her garage with plans of refinishing it one day, but realized she would probably never get to it and wanted it out of her garage.  I'm so glad she thought of me.  She has beautiful taste, so I knew on the way over there that it was going to be good.  I was thrilled when I saw it and told her I would take it.  We were both happy campers and she told me she couldn't wait to see what I was going to do with it.  So sweet of her. 

When I got it home I told myself it would be no big deal, an easy paint. Ha!  I knew it was cherry, which is terrible for bleed through, but I was armed with my two cans of Shellac and was bent on showing it who was boss. 

I started by sanding it down to remove the flaky finish on it, and also sanded the top to the bare wood.  I then gave it (not the top) two coats of shellac letting it dry really well between coats.  That should do it.  Or not!  3 coats of paint and shellac later, and having to repaint all the details 3 times I was tempted to throw it in the fire pit!  I knew there was no way I could. ;)

I think my perseverance paid off. :)

 Before

Since it's a reproduction it was in beautiful condition, minus the fact that it was so stinking humid here that all the drawers swelled so badly I couldn't get them back in when I was done painting and ended up having to take my grinder to the bottoms of the drawers to shave a little off.  

Now, all you wood lovers, this was a beautiful piece of furniture, but it was just lacking.  Again, details lost in the color of the wood. 

 After

Isn't she a sight?!  Tweet twoo!

 I taped off all those details (3 times) so they would be crisp.  I knew I wasn't going to distress this one because I didn't want pink to show around all the edges when I clear coated it. I love the clean lines with the pretty detailing. 

 I did dry brush the details in the corners and on the legs at one point, but it just didn't look good.  Too froo frooy or something.  I opted to keep them the same color as the desk and pick out the more prominent details with Cream Silk by Behr. 

 I love the pulls, so kept them and gave them a few coats of Oil Rubbed Bronze.  I happened to have four of these knobs and they were so completely perfect for this piece I knew it must have been fate. ;)

 Love the applique on the bottom of the middle. 

 I adore ball and claw foot so opted to just paint the "ball" to let it pop a little. 

 The top is a beautiful piece of cherry veneer, so I carefully sanded it down, gave it one coat of Java Gel (wipe it on, wipe it off), and 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic.

 Stunning!!!

 I dry brushed all the details on the mirror and love the soft look it gives.  I did distress the mirror slightly and painted the flowers a little more opaque. 

 Glamour shot. :)

So thrilled this one sold already!!

color = Stampede by Benjamin Moore color matched at Sherwin Williams

            Cream Silk by Behr also color matched at Sherwin Williams