Antique Vanity Makeover Using Marble Contact Paper

This antique vanity makeover is one of my favorite projects I have done. I used paint and marble contact paper to take what was once an antique vanity and turned it into a beautiful, functional vanity for modern use.

This piece of furniture was handed down to us from my husband’s grandparents. At one point in history, it was a vanity but had been taken apart and turned into nightstands.

Antique Vanity makeover side by side of before and after.

Someone had removed the connecting piece from the back and the feet. My husband and I used these as nightstands when we first got married, then passed them down to my daughter. Eventually, I decided to turn it back into a vanity.

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Antique Vanity Makeover

I had these two identical “nightstands” but I needed a top. There are a lot of things you can use that would work as a top. I chose this piece of pine that is 3×6 feet and about 1 inch deep from Menards. It did need to be cut down a bit to fit the space.

Two wood nightstands with an unfinished piece of wood on top and my jewelry and a magnifying mirror.

This shows the night stand's unique curved front and how it has no feet just sits flat on the floor.

As you can see from the photo below, there isn’t a lot of leg room between the chair and the table top.

This shows the wood nightstands and wood top with the french chair I made over.

The Prep Work

I picked up these feet from Home Depot. They have a screw so I drilled a pilot hole in the bottom of the piece of furniture and screwed it in.

This shows the hole I drilled into the bottom where I inserted the new feet.

The nightstand is upside down and all four feet are installed.

The night stand is turned right side up with new feet and the drawers are missing.

I didn’t really like the drawer pulls so I put wood putty into the holes to fill them.

The drawer with the wood putty in the old pull holes.

Give everything a good sanding in preparation for paint.

Adding Contact Paper to the Top

After giving everything a good sanding I primed everything then added two coats of white paint. I did paint the top as well even though I planned on putting the contact paper on it. I had a concern that the wood could show through the contact paper.

These are all the pieces that have been sanded and are getting ready for primer and paint.

This marble contact paper is from Amazon and I used just about all of it. I made sure that the paper covered the front and went all the way to the back.

Starting on one end, lay down the contact paper and smooth out all the air bubbles while you pull the backing off. Work your way all the way down, slowly, continuing to remove the air bubbles. Once the top is done fold the contact paper over and secure the front and sides.

Here I am halfway through attaching the marble contact paper.

The contact paper has been attached to the wood and is ready.

Finishing Touches

I made a template for the drawer pulls out of cardboard so each drawer would have pulls in exactly the same spot. I marked where the holes will be and then had my husband drill the new holes.

Here I am marking where the new pulls will go on the drawer.

My husband is drilling the new holes for the new pulls.

Here we go! The drawers are all done and the top is as well. I made a few changes with how I arranged everything on top. I also did some changes with the room as you will see in the finish pictures.

The nightstands have been painted and the contact paper has been attached.

Antique Vanity Makeover – The finished product

I adore the finished product, especially how the white pops off the smokey blue walls. I love the size of this as well as the deep drawers. This vanity holds an amazing amount of stuff.

This larger mirror came from IKEA. The lamp is a DIY project made from a bottle of bourbon, a light kit from Amazon and a lamp shade from Amazon. (My husband is in the liquor business so I thought this would be a fun DIY for our home.)

Here is the antique vanity makeover all finished with my makeup brushes, perfume and magnifying mirror.

Here is a side shot of the antique vanity makeover with the reupholstered french chair and the diy picture frame molding.

This front view shows my antique vanity makeover with my reupholstered chair and you can see my diy herringbone headboard in the reflection of the mirror.

This is the wall opposite my bed with my TV on a media chest and the antique vanity makeover.

Other DIY Projects in this room:

DIY Picture Frame Molding on the Walls

DIY Herringbone Headboard (and New Bedding)

How to Reupholster a Chair

I borrowed this blanket ladder from my guest room until the weather warms up and I can built one of my own.

DIY Blanket Ladder

This room is 90% done. I am waiting on some lamps to come back into stock. They are white and have USB ports in them which I am super excited about. I am so sick of cords being all over the floor by my nightstands!

The paint color I used in this room is Sherwin Williams Smokey Blue.

Antique Vanity Makeover pin for Pinterest.

I am so please with my antique vanity makeover. I love all the room I have and the storage. It just goes to show that you can take a piece of furniture and upcycle it to make it work for you!

Wendy Duffy

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As a licensed Real Estate Agent and an avid home decorator, I strive to give my clients the very best I can when it comes to staging, selling, and decorating their homes. I have lots of experience with paint color choices and love to DIY my home so I can have everything just the way I want it. I share my ideas and projects with the world in the hopes that I can help others have their homes just the way they want as well.