The Vanity Project: I've Had All I Can Stand, and I Can't Stand No More

White flag!  I am waving the white flag here!   This project became an obsession in perfection.  Finding the perfect shade of white.  Perfect gloss.  Perfect chair.  Perfect stool.  Perfect new hardware (which I'm fond of if I do say so myself.  And I do.)

Those two drawer handles?  I spent half an hour picking out.  I am ashamed to admit that.

So then I started actually USING the vanity.  You know, setting pretty things on it.  Picture frames.  Vases.  Dusting it every day.  What?  You do that too, right?  I noticed after about a week that the PAINT WAS SCUFFING from the moving of said objects.  I was peeved.  Grabbed a foam brush and painstakingly painted the top of the vanity.  Oh, I should also mention that I used a razor blade to remove the paint drips, sanded them down, then touched up the spots.  And the unsightly spot left by my childhood sticker obsession?  Gone in five seconds thanks to the razor blade.  Those things are cool.  I mean, they come in handy.

Now everything on the vanity has felt pads on the bottom to protect the paint.  I also have a pretty eyelet runner I made across it. and a matching one on the cheap stool I found at Target that's perfect.  Coupons and sales, yo.

So yes!  I was very, very happy.  I cleaned the mirrors again and then noticed that the middle mirror, the largest one, was foggy.  No matter how much I cleaned it the fogginess wouldn't go away,.  Wha?  I was perplexed.  I researched cleaning products only to discover WOE IS ME IT'S THE RESULT OF AGE!  The mirror is permanently foggy.  :(  So sad.

I researched options online then headed to the local big chain home improvement stores where, much to my dismay, I was told that I wouldn't find a piece of glass that size there.  It's definitely a weird size.  13.5 inches wide by 19.5 inches high.  With beveled edges.  The suggested I call the local glass company since it would be a custom order and their estimate blew.  my.  mind.

Conundrum.

Lookit.  On one hand there was the perfection obsession.  On the other?  I am dirt poor.  I had to come up with an alternative.  I settled for buying a cheap mirror at Walmart and leaning it up against the middle mirror of the vanity.  It serves the purpose.  Down the road, if I am ever fortunate enough to be, what's a step up from dirt poor?  Grass poor?  Maybe I'll look into getting the mirror replaced.  But that would be a professional job for a glass cutter and someone who has mad skills with fragile furniture.  It is definitely a piece that would be awesome in a little girl's room.  And I saw some really cute pink handles that would be fab.  For a little girl.  Yeah.

Still, I am irked a bit.  Look:

See it?  No?  Oh very well.  Look CLOSER.

The back of the leaning mirror!  It reflects in the glass of the vanity!  I SEE IT EVERY NIGHT WHEN I GET INTO BED.  I can't deal.  I have to paint it.  But I won't torture you any more with it.  It's time to move on.

I've worked on a few small projects that I'll post before getting to another biggie.  No progress photos of them, just final results.  A chair I covered so I could sit on the porch with the other neighborhood porch people and a dress I made.  And then.  AND THEN!  The Ottoman Project:  Take Two!  You just got shivers of excitement, didn't you?