I’ve seen tutorials and Instagram reels about painting vanities, but none I came across had the exact one that I had. I doubted whether I could paint it and had resigned to putting it back in as is. Two guys at the hardware store told me it wasn’t worth the effort to stain this material. So I decided at the last minute to give paint a try and see what happens. The original “wood” stain didn’t go with my vision for the bathroom, so I really didn’t want to leave it as is. I wanted a darker stain and for it to match the shelf that I plan to DIY and install.
How I painted it.
I sanded it with 120 grit. I made sure to mask up and do this outside, because this is not the material you want to inhale. Sanding it with the correct grit made a big difference for me.
I sanded it previously and the primer did NOT stick. It almost immediately started to part at random points like Moses parted the red sea. I was close to crashing out as my gen Zers say, because if this didn’t work I had ruined the vanity by sanding and priming it and would need to purchase another one. I didn’t want to spend any more money.
This is the panicked picture I took to get advice from the hardware employees (taking a good picture for y’all was the last thing on my mind. So sorry!). I headed out to the hardware store to get a different primer or just cry in front of strangers. Whichever came first. The very knowledgeable employee in the paint department told me I could use BIN Killner or Zinnser…I had the latter at home, so we went back home and decided to try again. I used the correct grit this time and went back over the vanity with the sander.
I primed it again after re-sanding using the correct grit. This time it worked! I primed it with a roller and used a brush for the tight spaces. Then I went over it again as much as I could with the roller to erase the brush strokes. Example of this in the video:
After the primer dried, I did 2 coats of semi-gloss paint. We used Good Jeans by Clare Paint. It looked fantastic! I applied it with the roller and the brush just as I did the primer:
This is my fav project to date because it came out beautifully after a near disaster. I was dubious at the possibility of being successful with it. I still went for it and though things didn’t start out in my favor, with a little help, the correct grit and some anxiety, it turned out better than I hoped for. This was the first DIY project where I felt very accomplished and like I DID THAT!
Next time I would like to try a deglosser first as I have already had to touch up 2 spots. Everything else is in great shape. 9/10 would do it again. And will! Because we have another one just like it waiting for its moment to shine. Stay tuned for that as I’ll test out some new things.