Project Home: A DIY Vanity Table for $0

Every year around this time I start to get an itch to change things up in our house. I’ve been thinking a lot about our office space in particular over the past few weeks. We worked hard to make the smallest of our three bedrooms into a nice office where we could pay bills, work on blog related things, hang out, read, etc. To be honest though – I’m more comfortable working on bills and such from the dining room table and if I’m blogging I’m most likely under a cozy blanket on the couch. You can see an old photo of our office here. Since this photo was taken we have added a tall filing cabinet to the right of the desk, a big retro couch to the opposite wall, and my treble clef clock hangs above the couch. It’s a really nice space but out of our two extra rooms it makes a lot more sense to keep our guest bedroom for out of town visitors. So the office will become our sweet baby’s nursery!

I’ve been desperately wanting a vanity table for our bedroom over the last few months but haven’t wanted to shell out the couple hundred dollars that I knew it would take to find a decent one. Nor have I had the time to even look! I’ve always stood at the bathroom sink to do my makeup and hair and therefore my bathroom sink always looks like an explosion of makeup, hair products, heat styling tools, brushes, combs, perfumes, nail polishes, etc. Completely out of control. Out of space and out of energy to continue standing at the sink every morning (thanks so much pregnancy), I decided that I had to find a vanity table STAT.

About a week ago while I was sitting on my couch thinking about my ideas for the nursery I started contemplating what to do with the office furniture. And then a light bulb came on. I had a desk that I needed to relocate, a mirror sitting in a closet downstairs, and a stool sitting in the corner of the living room collecting dust.

A few hours later Nate helped me move our desk into our bedroom, I hung the mirror, relocated my makeup and beauty products, and TADA – a perfect vanity table. I froze several of my old Bath & Body Works candles a while back and popped the last bit of wax out to make the clear glass containers for my makeup and brushes. I think they look great and I can see what all is in the jar with ease! I noticed that it would be a tad dark in the room for putting on makeup, so I strung up some white lights to give off a tiny bit more light. I’m obsessed with the way it looks and how much it adds to our bedroom. I love that if I don’t feel like having the bright lamp on my bedside table turned on in the evening I can just leave the string of lights on for a little bit of a glow.

I’m planning on replacing the drawer pulls and painting the mirror. All of the furniture in our bedroom is very mix and match so eventually I’d like to paint our bed frame, dresser, and bedside tables all white. Or pick one piece to paint a bold bright color. We also desperately need to paint the walls a different color and I’d like to replace the stool all together with a new chair (maybe this one?) as it’s too tall for the desk and I can’t scoot forward to look in the mirror comfortably.

So, what do you all think of my desk turned vanity? This isn’t your typical “DIY” – I didn’t build this beautiful vanity out of reclaimed wood or anything. I just moved some furniture around. But ya know, I was proud of myself for re-purposing items that weren’t being used and creating a space that I needed – so I’m calling it a DIY, y’all! Our “office” is currently in disarray, but we have some time to figure out exactly what we want to do with it! Right now I’m leaning towards keeping the couch in there and recovering it to match the nursery. After all, it will be nice to have a comfy place to sit/lay down.