Calling all upcyclers - WWYD?

[thenorthernluce]

I have a beautiful vanity table (a “Dolly Varden”) my grandpa made for my Mum and her sister in the 1950s. I’m so attached to it, having inherited it 20-odd years ago when my Aunt died, but it just doesn’t fit in with the decor of my own family home. If someone with a keen eye for design and a penchant for upcycling could cast a critical eye over it and make some suggestions for adjusting it, that’d be awesome.

Sorry for the rubbish photo, but I hope it shows the rough outline. It has a kidney-shaped table top, an accompanying footstool, and an optional custom glass surface. It should have a broderie Anglaise “skirt” around it (hiding the drawers and shelves), but I have taken that off, leaving the hinges it covers looking very bare indeed.

The rest of our furniture is pretty much brown wood, and mostly a mix of modern (okay, Ikea) and mid-century styles, but our house is Victorian with original wood floorboards.

My thoughts were to replace the drawer handles and either strip the paint off or paint over it, but that’s about as far as I’ve got.

Bright ideas very welcome!

I can't see a photo?

I can see the photo.
Could you strip the paint and then just oil the wood? Would that fit in better?
Other option is to paint it another colour which is do-able but you’d need to pick one colour all over or you could use different colours on some or all of the draw fronts?

I think the mirror could be taken off and hung separately flat (but in it’s triptych) on a wall (elsewhere...doesn’t need to relate to the chest of drawers)
Would the shaped panel that held the skirt come off? Then you have a strong functional piece. Before you think of stripping off the paint see if you can figure out if it’s solid wood, or sand it back and repaint it

Chalk paint is your friend- no prep required. Paint drawers a different colour?

Or do you want to go for a shabby chic look?

If you remove/replace the handles I would suggest paint rather than stripping back to wood as the handles will leave holes which may be difficult to cover

I love the idea of wall mounting the mirrors above! For mid century I would probably remove the kidney top and strip the paint, then see where you are. I had a mid century desk a bit like that that had painted black handles. You could also take the whole thing apart and make two bedside tables.

I think it would look pretty good if you stripped the paint off and stained it to match the rest of your furniture?

Yes to mounting mirror separately. I'd probably strip back and repaint to fit in with current furniture shade. I'd then cover the handles and top strip with copper . I'd also put copper under the glass base. And find a copper fabric to recover the seat with wooden buttons.

Amazing ideas - thank you so much!

I would strip off the bit that holds the skirt and possibly replace the top with something squarer. Then paint the rest a soft black and put baskets in the spaces.

It actually looks really like an old desk I used as a changing table, the middle hole was ideal for a laundry basket!

The exposed hinges are quite industrial so I would strip back the paint to emphasise this and replace the handles, looking for quite a geometric 1959s shape in metal. Wall-mounting the mirror is genius.