05/16/2026
This Victorian Eastlake vanity was far from an easy restoration — countless hours went into bringing this antique beauty back to life while preserving its character and history.
The mirror originally had no backing and had completely broken away from the stand. A new backing was added, repairs were made, and the swivel mechanism was rebuilt so the mirror can properly move and function again.
The upper drawers were in rough shape — they wouldn’t slide correctly, pushed too far inward, and would fall out or twist when opened. New gliding rails, drawer stops, and upper rail supports were installed so they now pull out straight and smooth like they should. The drawer bottoms and lower rails were also cut out and replaced where damaged.
The vanity itself was structurally separating in several areas. The front face had to be repaired, glued, reinforced, and supported back together. The back panel was sagging and falling apart, so that was rebuilt and secured as well. Even the bottom had damage and holes that required replacement sections.
Every inch of this piece was stripped of old paint, sanded down through multiple stages (120, 180, then 220 grit), and carefully refinished. All decorative wood carvings were removed, stripped, sanded, and individually stained before being reinstalled.
A missing decorative trim piece on the bottom had to be recreated by hand to match the original design. Most replacement wood was done using walnut and aged oak to stay true to the period construction.
The entire vanity was stained in Golden Oak. One of the biggest challenges was matching the sides of the vanity — they were maple instead of walnut, so they absorbed stain differently. Custom toner work was used to blend and match the shade of the walnut throughout the piece.
This restoration involved extensive rebuilding, gluing, reinforcing, staining, color matching, and craftsmanship from top to bottom. A tremendous amount of work went into saving this antique and giving it a second life for many more years to come.
