How can I fix up my vanity?

Where the laminate has peeled off, fill it with spackle or glue back on the piece if you still have it. You have a lot of choices to make your vanity beautiful again. You can cover it with inexpensive fabric adhering it with spray adhesive. You can decoupage wrapping paper or other images on the surface to make a collage. You can faux finish it to look like stone by covering it with a coating of drywall compound, sanding it off, wiping gray or burnt umber paint over the suface to fill the divets and sealing it with a non-yellowing polyurethane. Of course, you can paint laminate, too, but you will have to give it some tooth by priming it with either Kilz or Zinser first. Then you can make it look like wood with a graining tool, paint it a solid color or handpaint designs, stencil it or use transfers to jazz it up. You can also spray paint it any color you like.

Sounds like a fun project, enjoy!

You can paint over the laminate as long as you use a good "Bonding" primer first. (Lowe's or Home Depot) First you need to fill in the missing spots, you can use spackle or even wood putty. When it's dry, you will then need to "De-gloss" the surface of the laminate. Use 220 grit sand paper and lightly sand the entire surface. Then wash the entire piece with TSP (Tri-sodium phosphate, also found at Lowe's & Home Depot) The next step is to apply 2 good coats of your bonding primer. Follow the directions on drying time, water-based dries a lot faster and has less odor. Then you can apply your paint anyway you want! When you are finished you will love what you have created! Plus the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

There are a lot of books at your local library on painting faux finishes. You could get some ideas there! Good Luck! Have Fun!!!

Sand it down first, and then paint away!

I like the wood stains that you can buy, and then you use that wood grain tool that will make it look like real wood.

There are so many different techniues you could do. You could always go to Home Depot. They even teach free classes about painting techniques!