This little vanity, bought for $35 from a junk shop, was redone for my daughters’ room. In many ways it was an experiment piece as I wanted to try out a variety of different painting techniques and all the details of the drawers, molding, feet, and scallops allowed just that.
After a few years of serving as her desk, it’s on it’s way to my neice. I thought I would show photos of this older project for the playful painting techniques that I experimented with using the color palette of white, with medium shades of pink and purple.

Advantages of Painting Older Furniture
What I especially love is taking a piece with a lot of carving which was originally stained in a very dark color, and painting it. Paint, covers a myriad of sins, and quickly updates that old stain to something that blends it into a more contemporary room. You can also use paint as a unifying theme – if you have several mismatched pieces of furniture you want in the same room, paint them all with the same color such as a classic neutral of white, cream or black.
Painting an older piece works especially well if there is carving, molding or architectural details that you can highlight.


Dealing with Damaged Veneer
You will often find furniture from the 1920’s-50’s with veneer as it was a very popular method to use expensive hardwoods. While these bargains are plentiful, unfortunately, they often show veneer damage. A choice has to be made to repair, paint over, or cover it.
If the piece is truly old or was manufactured by a well-known designer, repairing it professionally would be best to keep its’ value. With the more relaxed design policies of today, you can also have fun with less valuable furniture that has cracked legs, chipped veneer, broken corners or other damage by incorporating the used look into the overall feel of the design.
With this vanity, the damaged veneer was on the flat, inside panels, where the chair would pull up. This isn’t unusual with veneered furniture that has been stored in garages, basements, attics etc… because the glue bond becomes destroyed with fluctuating humidity.
Because the piece held no historical value, I opted to cover the damage instead of trying to repair it. I first cut out the badly damaged areas on the veneer and re-glued the remaining veneer, using weight to get it to lay flat while the glue dried.
I traced the origional scallop carving seen in the center front of the piece, and keeping the curved shape, adapted it in size. A thin wooden piece was cut from the pattern and became a decorative accent to cover the damage. Wood glue was applied on the pattern’s back, and it was tacked down, with the nail holes recessed and covered with a bit of wood putty which was sanded smooth before being painted pink, then sponged over with white.
In this photo, you can see the how the center curve on the vanity fits the new inside panel:

If making changes like this, always use the original form of the piece for inspiration as it means you are remaining true to it, and new and old will blend better.
Combing
Combing, which results in this stripe, was a new technique I tried and it was very easy but does take some time. A rubber comb for decorative painting can be bought at your hardware store in the paint area. You can also make one by cutting the form out of the end of a piece of very hard cardboard but I like the commercial rubber tool as it can be washed and re-used.

The high contrast in color was white over a medium tone purple. Because I used paint and not glaze I had to work quickly. The more perfect the surface, the more exact the result, yet I rather liked this uneveness and went with it.
Combing works best on very flat, even surfaces. I also think it’s best to work on short surfaces – the longer the drag, the higher the chance it will be crooked. You need a very steady hand to pull this technique off and be sure to wipe the comb clean before beginning the next stroke.
Ragging Off
On the tabletop (no pic) I used a technique called Ragging Off, which is a decorative paint technique where glaze or paint is removed. It works best on flat, even surfaces.
The first coat was purple and after it dried, a silver glaze was applied in a criss cross brush application. Glaze allows more time to work the pattern so if you make a mistake you can brush out, then go back to working it; if you opt for diluted paint you will have a very short time to work before it starts to dry.
Take a clean soft rag (I prefer cut up t-shirts), and crumple it into a loose, wrinkled tube. Using your hands (if you don’t like getting dirty put on latex gloves), roll the cloth over the surface of the glaze. This removes as opposed to applying (Ragging On) and is a subtractive technique.
On the lift off of cloth from surface, remove upwards instead of pushing across and up, this will help keep the original texture of the design. Keep rolling and lifting off, changing the direction of your approach and crossing the older glaze so there is no clear pattern.
Ragging on or off gives a very nice, soft texture and I like it when it is subtle – darker color with lighter on top, vs. light color with dark on top (which IMO can look more amateurish).
Porcelain Crackle Glaze
I also experimented with a porcelain crackle glaze in some area such as the scalloped front piece and the drawer fronts. A Porcelain glaze is a fine cracking effect commonly seen on older pieces of porcelain and sometimes on paintings and painting frames. It is a delicate effect best put on places that will be seen up close as it is a subtle surface finish.

The area is first painted for the undercoat, in this case, white was used. Then the porcelain crackle glaze is applied over a dry surface and let to dry. A top coat of a glaze is then applied and sinks into the cracks. To make this work you will want two high contrasting colors – in this above example, the base color was white, and the glaze was maroon, which in this concentration dried to a darker pink. I personally like the darker color into the cracks (topcoat) as the veining is generally darker when this is seen done by nature.
Hardware
Going with glass knobs enhanced the fairy-tale, princess feel of this desk. White porcelain or pewter knobs would have also worked well. I didn’t clean it up for the pic but the bottom drawer pull was an original brass one.

This close up also shows the various patterns on the drawer fronts which lent itself to different colors. You can see the decorative trim at the bottom of the drawers also. It’s these small details you should look for when deciding if a piece would be a good choice for painting.
Last minute thoughts
If I was doing this piece again, I would not do the sand back “damage” effects that I put on the legs and some of the molding – in the end I feel like it jarred with this particular piece, although I have done it with my black painted furniture.
I also would have kept the whites, a bit whiter by not using the glaze as much – and the drawer fronts looked a bit dirty with the maroon glaze over the porcelain crackling.
Price: Vanity $35, knobs $8, 3 quarts of paint (white, purple, pink) $24, the glazes, wood etc.. were all leftovers from the garage. Total: $67.