Bathroom vanities get a lot of use over the years and can eventually start to show signs of wear and tear, such as peeling or cracked paint. As a bathroom vanity is a vocal point in a bathroom’s design, if your vanity cabinet is looking a bit tatty it’ll let down the appearance of your whole room. However, there’s no need to go to the expense and inconvenience of installing a brand new vanity unit, especially if you’re happy with the style of the one you’ve got.If you’re willing to put in the work, it’s entirely possible to give a wooden vanity a makeover by repainting it.
To do a good job and achieve a professional-looking finish, you will need to take your time to prepare the surfaces and use a quality paint. However, this is worth your while, as a good paint job should keep your vanity looking good for many years.
As with any decorating job, it’s crucial to take care to properly prepare all your surfaces; skimp on this and it will be obvious in the end result. It’s easier to work on a large open area, so rather than trying to work around those awkward bits, unscrew and remove any door or drawer handles and hinges before you begin, and put these in a safe place.
You’ll then need to scrape off any loose or flaky areas of old paint and use sandpaper to get a smooth finish for the new paint to stick to. As this could generate lots of dust, it’s sensible to wear a dust mask and goggles whilst doing this.
Once the preparation is complete, thoroughly clean up all the dust and debris, so your work area is completely clean. It’s a good idea at this stage to stick masking tape on the walls around the edges of your vanity and over any fittings you aren’t able to remove, to prevent them being splashed with paint. It’s then time to apply a coat or two of primer undercoat, using a product that’s specifically for use on previously painted wood. A handy tip here is to use an acrylic water-based primer, which is quick-drying. There are several varieties on the market, many of which dry in only 1-2 hours, which means you can easily get two or more coats done in one day.
Once the final coat of primer is dry, you can begin to paint your vanity. Because bathrooms are areas of high humidity, you should use a gloss or satin enamel paint, or a specialist cabinet paint, to get both an attractive sheen and a durable finish. This type of paint is easy to wipe clean, and resistant to moisture and mildew.
To avoid leaving visible brush strokes, you could use a small roller – a 6in roller is a useful size for painting a vanity cabinet. Taking care not to overload the roller and to not over-roll, you should end up with a nice even coat. You will probably need to apply a second coat to get the best finish – it’ll say on the tin how long to leave the paint to dry between coats.
Once you’re happy with the finish and the paint has been allowed to dry, you can re-attach the handles and hinges, and that’s it –you’ve managed to give your old vanity a fresh new look for a fraction of the cost of replacing it.
