Bathroom Vanity Project

So.. my mom is dating this dude who owns a home remodeling company.  People will rip apart their homes and throw the stuff out that they don't want.  For the longest time I've had a pedestal sink in my bathroom, which allows for no storage space!  Upon meeting this guy it was discussed that if he ever come across a bathroom vanity, to steal it for me.... so he did!  It needed some work, easy stuff that he took care of for me (patching, sanding, etc.) - but it also needed to be painted once in the bathroom.  After months of seeing it look like this:

I decided something needed to be done!

So, first things first - take off the doors and hardware.  If I'm going to paint this bitch, I'm going to do it the right way!

 Also.. BEFORE you begin... make sure you have a paintbrush that is good quality and comfortable to hold and fit into smaller spaces.  I began with a crappy, piece of crap, crap-tastic paintbrush and it SUCKED!  So mid-stroke I left my house in my purple Vikings crocs and went to Lowe's to buy this beauty:

Next step is to prime the wood - wood is extremely porous and will soak up paint and likely discolor it as you go.  Using primer is basically assuring that your paint will go on evenly and give you a nice base coat to work with.

Once everything is primed... wait for it to dry.  Go check your facebook, eat lunch, play with your niece, whatever.  The specific primer I used was a quick dry and I put on a pretty thin coat, so I wasn't worried about waiting HOURS before I began painting.

So.. moving on to painting - the key here is to apply thin coats.  Thin coats will look more even and they dry quicker.  Glopping on paint only leads to future chipping and overall destruction.  For my project, I had to apply 2 coats and I let everything dry completely between coats and before installing any hardwares or installing the doors.

I also wanted to change up the hardware (see ugly 'before' pictures), so I made boyfriend make the trip to Home Depot with me (I absolutely hate those big tall ceiling stores; Lowe's, Menard's, Home Depot - and in effort to get over my fears, I make him go with me and {literally} hold my hand the whole time - 'nother blog in itself).  So we go in, not even bothering to think about the current hardware (towel racks, etc) and what they look like... I knew the stuff was chrome - so we had that to go on... I also knew the general shape of things... AND I had a new TP holder that I was going to install that I knew the look of... so we based everything on my crappy memory (note to you: look at your current hardware before driving to Home Depot to buy 'matching' hardware).

HOWEVER - we did good and everything we bought (hinges and knobs) look just like they belong!

So... I put on the knobs and install the hinges myself, no problem.  

I go to install the doors and get the first one on, no sweat... the second door... not so easy.  I start grunting and making Snooki sighs and Steve comes in and helps me take the first door off so that we can put both on the right way (insert blushing face here - apparently I don't know how to ask for help).

Without further ado - here is the finished product:

I began working on Friday afternoon and finished installing the doors on Sunday evening - I let the first coat of paint dry overnight Friday, and the second coat dried overnight Saturday, to ensure completely dryness!  It makes the bathroom look so much better too!