vintage by quandie.

Published on by Quandie

Have you heard of Vintage by Nina?  Nina is Nina Hartmann and she has some gorgeous books out there.  She also has a shop, but since she is in Sweden, I don’t know if she ships to the U.S. or not.  I’ve never tried to order from her.  I get her books at the Round Barn.  I will also warn you, they are pricey.  I don’t usually spend nearly that much for a book, but her books are worth it to me.  By the way, in case you are wondering, this post is not sponsored in any way.  I don’t have any sponsors, no one ever pays me or gives me free products to blog about them (drat!).  I just like to share my finds with you guys, and give you links to the sources when possible.

This brings me to the reason for this post, my latest piece, whose paint job was inspired by this picture from Nina’s book, among vintage & friends.

vintage by nina

I had actually pinned this photo on pinterest and at the time it was not credited to Nina Hartmann.  I had no idea it was from her book until I purchased the book and found it inside.  Anyway, gorgeous, right?  It provided the jumping off point for the vanity/dressing table I painted last weekend.

dressing table painted in MMS Grain Sack milk paint

I used MMS milk paint in Grain Sack and Typewriter to copy the look.

You’ll notice that on this piece the Typewriter doesn’t look as black as it usually does when I use it.  That’s because I used a topcoat of MMS clear wax instead of the hemp oil.  I find that leaves the black a tad chalkier looking, which was exactly what I wanted in this case.

vintage vanity painted in milk paint

vintage vanity detail 2

The chipping really worked on this piece, and it gave me the look I wanted.  I think if I had done this same color scheme with chalk paint it would have looked a little gaudy.

vintage vanity painted with MMS milk paint in Grain Sack

I shared the knobs for this piece with you as a sneak peek last weekend.  I found them at Hobby Lobby and knew they were going to be perfect on this dressing table.  The original knobs were OK, but just OK, nothing special.

vintage vanity knob

I’m making you wait for the full reveal, have you noticed?  Just be patient, we’ll get there.  Meanwhile, I opted to paint the bench in Typewriter to contrast with the vanity.

vintage vanity bench

I recovered the seat with some stenciled drop cloth fabric.

vintage vanity seat

Remember my trick of putting scrapbook paper in the drawers?  Did that again here (again with paper from October Afternoon).

vintage vanity drawer interior

I staged this piece with one of my vintage cameras and a little touch of Q.

vintage vanity staging

As you can see, my manikin Lula is wearing her winter fur.

vintage vanity and Lula

OK, enough delays, here is the full piece.

vanity painted in MMS milk paint

I have to tell you, I really struggled with my photos on this one.  It was difficult to get the white balance right and to try and show the true grey tones of the Grain Sack.  I think this last picture comes closest to the most accurate colors.  I re-did it five times!  So by this point, my eyes are playing tricks on me anyway.  I wish I could just invite you all over to my house to see it in person so you could really see it.

vintage vanity painted with MMS milk paint in Grain Sack

And oh my goodness, I nearly forgot to share the ‘before’ with you.  How much do you love the golden fleece of a seat?  And Mr. Q’s legs and hands as he holds the mirror in place for me?

golden vanity before

 Anyone need a fab dressing table to add a little vintage glamour to their home?

28 thoughts on “vintage by quandie.”

    1. Nope, no bonding agent. I do sand my pieces before painting in an attempt to control the chipping. Sometimes that doesn’t work, but often I find that the right amount of sanding in strategic locations will help keep the chipping where I want it. I definitely wanted to get some chipping on this piece.

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  2. I think this is my favorite so far…although I still love a good black. Absolutely love Mr.Q’s addition of hands and legs to the picture – it adds a touch of whimsy. LOL Would have been better if he had bare legs though…just say’en…

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  4. Oh yeah, this is so gorgeous! I love the Typewriter accents.. the wax really gives that color such a great texture. I love the little black bench, too – great contrast. So glamorous!

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  8. I think I have a old magazine with Nina in it and I thought she was in Florida. Kinda thought she was not American but great design asethitic. Will have to check out her books. Amen to every comment! And a high five to Terri’s “bare legged” remark which made me chortle. I love when it that happens, I mean it’s such an endearing trait for a woman don’t you think? Seriously it’s great and those knobs are killers. Love how you did the seat of the bench with a repetition of script to reinforce you knob selection. Didn’t think I catch did you? But hey I am still scratching my head as to why to changed the bench seat fabric. 😉😉

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    1. I totally knew you would catch that repetition 😉 But wait, you think I should have kept the golden fleece? Maybe I should have played up the whole 70’s vibe.

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  12. hi linda, i just wanted to say thanks for all the nice comment on my blog. i responded on it but not sure you would see it, i need to figure out more about the blog ins and outs
    : ) i enjoy my craft room and feel very lucky. i love my pink typewriter – and the cool thing is it types in cursive! i just put a bulletin board behind the map so i can keep lots of inspiration there. good luck finding a school map and i can’t wait to see your new room, it will be amazing i am sure!!! oh and i love this latest piece – perfect!

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  14. Pingback: just the right white. – q is for quandie

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