Dale and I started cleaning up my vanity–it was my great-grandmother’s and I’ve had it since I was a little girl. It’s been pretty beat up. In addition to having about 100 years of use, it’s been moved multiple times (and sustained a broken leg), has evidence of having been refinished in the 1950s (you can see the power sanding marks in some places), and been kept in smoking homes up through the early 90s. It was dark, dank, grimey. So we started cleaning and couldn’t stop ourselves. Above is how it looked after we cleaned the crap out of it. Dale convinced me to let him fix it so I sat biting my nails and waiting for the results. And they were amazing:

How beautiful does that wood look now? WOW! He was just starting to add a layer of shellac to it.

This is the other side, which wasn’t in quite as bad of shape. Pretty! This will be part of the Moulin Rouge Theme Bedroom I’m working on. Should be finishing in 2015 at the rate I’m going!