We are so happy with the way this custom Chelsea Pottery Barn -esque vanity turned out for our daughter and the finishing touches.
There was some finishing challenges and some good lessons on the journey as we undertook our first furniture project with red oak wood.
See our Instructions for Building the Pottery Barn Vanity here!
Time for Sanding the Vanity
To clean up some of the drawer face markings from routing I put my oscillating tool to use – it sure has been put through its paces and is still going. This was the first time using the triangle pads for sanding and it was fantastic for the fine details. Sanding was outside with some old boxes to protect the feet from getting wet.
Lessons Learned in Painting
With the blemishes filled and the vanity sanded it was time for paint. I had this wonderful thought that I could save a ton of time by spraying everything. Spray room setup was in the garage with plastic sheeting hanging from the garage door rails. The first coat went well and subsequent coats not so much. For some reason, the paint was soft and peeled and scraped away easily. Also, the tannins (dark red color) was clearly visible through some of the painted boards.
TIP: Use an oil or alkyd primer designed to seal in the tannins. For this project we used a Zinsser primer.
This spectacular failure was a great lesson learned and in the end, just a little more sanding was needed. Part of the fun of these projects is the adventure. With temperatures dropping, it was time to bring the painting inside. Once the oil based primer was put on in the garage, the rest of the finishing was done inside with a low VOC paint. The Benjamin Moore Advance paint was great on this project coupled with a mohair roller and quality brush.
TIP: With Benjamin Moore Advance, apply the paint in a way that doesn’t require you having to go back over it after you’ve smoothed it out. This will give you a smoother finish. Sand lightly between coats.
It all worked out in the end!
A cute little chair, mirror, and butterflies rounded out our little girls vanity project! The great thing about this custom build is that she won’t outgrow it and it will stand up to years of use.
