Moving into our house was exciting because we had not one, but two renovated bathrooms. We went from sharing one small, out-dated bathroom in our rental property to two full baths with fresh coats of paint, new flooring, new fixtures, the works.
In our hall bathroom there was a pedestal sink. It was new and white and worked just fine, but there was no where to place anything other than some hand soap and a small decorative vase. I don't know about you, but when I get ready in the morning I need more room than that. We spent a while living with the pedestal sink before searching for a vanity. Why are vanities so expensive? I still do not know. What I do know is that what we wanted was was scarce. We needed the sink to be on the left side, so the vanity counter tops had to be to the right. We have a closet in the bathroom, so we were limited on the length of vanity. We also wanted something with legs to give it a more open feel than floor to counter cabinets and drawers. So, you know, only a few items on our checklist.
With our budget, and what we were looking for, there was just no way we were going to find a vanity that matched. After a few years of living with the pedestal sink, and after a few other projects under our belts, JP decided to build us a vanity. Truthfully, this project was a bit more involved than many of our projects. But it was 100% worth it! How lucky am I to have a custom vanity?
So let's dig into this project! MATERIALS:
* 1 4’x8’ sheet of ¾” plywood. We used red oak, but you can use whatever you'd like.
* Edge banding. We used red oak again. We recommend matching the species of plywood you picked if you plan on staining the vanity rather than painting it.
* 2 2”x2”x6’ lumber. We couldn’t find 2”x2” red oak, so we went with poplar because it was the cheapest alternative. Luckily, with the final stain, the color matched well!
* 1”x1” oak, approximately 9 feet worth
* 6 1”x2”x6’ lumber. We used red oak here again.
* 3 16” full extension drawer slides
* 2 pairs of door hinges
* 1 ¼ Kreg Fine Thread screws for hardwood. It's imperative to use fine thread; their coarse thread can split the solid hardwood which you definitely do not want to happen.
* 1 ¼ Kreg Coarse Thread screws for softwoods/plywood
* 1 ¼ 18 gauge brad nails
* 6 1 ¼ L bracket
* Cedar Shims
* Drawer pulls. Here's an opportunity to really show off your style. Drawer pulls make great accents and can highlight your personality without being too in-your-face. * Grit sandpaper (120, 180, and 220)
* Stain of your choosing
* Spar Urethane. We cannot get enough of this stuff! Because we weren't adding a traditional counter top, this finish was an absolute must-have. It's used on boats, so it will hold up to the inevitable water that gets onto the top.
* Wood glue. We used Titebond 3 because it’s also waterproof.
* Painters tape
* 3/8” dowel for plugging pocket holes
* Vessel sink, faucet, and drain kit of your choosing, we found a great deal on amazon that came as a set.
* New drain pipes. This may not be necessary for your set up. Because we were updating from a pedestal sink, the old connections did not line up so we got this universal drainpipe kit
TOOLS:
* Table Saw
* Miter Saw
* Drill/Driver
* Kreg Pocket hole jig
* Jigsaw
* 18 Gauge Brad Nailer * Flush Cut Saw
* Clothes iron - yes, that clothes iron. It sounds weird but you’ll use it for attaching the edge banding
* Combination square
* Chisel
* Sanding block
* Random Orbit sander
* Channel locks, pliers, or basin wrench (something to remove the old drain lines and attach the new)
* Tape Measure
* Clamps (it helped having two that were at least 3’)
* Oscillating multi tool (optional) PLANNING:
Since JP is the mastermind behind putting this vanity together. I'm passing this section off to him.
Hey! JP Here. First, I designed the vanity in Sketchup. This program takes some time to become familiar with, but in the end I was able to do a lot of the tweaking here that saved time down the road. From here, using Sketchup, I took measurements of individual pieces and used a cut list optimizer, like this one, to map out these pieces. Be sure to consider grain direction for least waste.
After sorting through all of the sheet-goods pieces, I used another cut list optimizing site for dimensional lumber.
This was my first time seriously using these applications, but they really yielded for a smoother process from start to finish. Steps:
Step 1: Follow the cut list by ripping and cutting all individual pieces. I had our home center make a few of the big cuts so I’d have more manageable pieces that could fit into my car.
Step 2: Cut four legs to 32 1/4" using the 2”x2”x6’s. I added a taper at the bottom on what would become the two inside faces. This started about 4” from the bottom and left the final dimensions of the foot 1”x1”.
Step 3: Drill pocket holes on the inside of the side panels and attach the legs with fine thread screws. If you tapered the legs, make sure you have them facing the direction you want. Because the side panel and the legs are different thicknesses, be sure to line up the panel flush with the inside of the legs. You won't be able to see this when the construction is completed, but it will cause the outer side of the panel to lie recessed between the legs.
Step 4: With pocket holes and glue, attach the two side panels together with two of the 33” long 1”x2”s in the front, one flush with the top and the other starting around 18 ¾” down also with fine thread screws. This will form the framework of the face of your vanity.
Step 5: Secure the back supports using plywood in the same locations on the rear of the vanity as the framing on the front. Make sure this assembly is square by measuring the diagonals. If they are not equal, use a longer clamp (or a long clamp attached to a smaller clamp, which I had to do) to squeeze the longer side until they are equal. Check again and tweak until you have equal numbers. Let this dry so the frame will remain square.
Step 6: Pre-drill and attach the 1”x2”x17 ¼” piece with fine thread pocket hole screws. Position this slat to begin 10 ¼” from the right side. This will form the divider between the cabinets and drawers.
Step 7: With the face frame finished, pre-drill pocket holes and attach the panel that will make the bottom of the cabinet to the side panels with coarse thread screws. Do the same, for the front face frame with fine thread screws.
Step 8: Follow these same steps using the panel that will create the interior wall between the drawers and cabinet. Attach the panel flush against the inside of the vertical divider (created in step 6) with fine thread screws, and to the bottom panel (created in step 7) with coarse thread screws.
Step 9: Attach the 1"x1" piece around the edges of the top panel with glue. This will hide the end grain and give it a more polished look. Use painter’s tape to hold it in place. I cut two 16” and two 36” long pieces to wrap the perimeter of the vanity’s top.
Step 10: Begin work on the slatted lower shelf. To create the frame, attach two of the 1”x2”x33” boards between the legs, running length-wise, using fine thread pocket hole screws about 4" from the ground, just above where the taper begins. Next, attach two 1”x2”x17 ½” boards width-wise, also using fine thread pocket screws. These boards should also be 4" from the ground.
Step 11: Add the cross slats. We deviated slightly from our original plans here. At first, we planned to have 11 slats, but it looked crowded so we used 7 instead. With the remaining 1”x2”x17 ½" boards, attach each board to the the front and back rails equidistant apart with fine thread pocket screws. If you go with 7 slats, they'll be about 2 ⅝" apart. I flipped the vanity over for easier access and I cut a spacer that was 2 ⅝” to position each slat. I started on the ends and worked my way to the middle to keep the spacing consistent.
Step 12: With the overall skeleton finished, let's focus on the drawers. Use coarse thread pocket screws to attach the basic rectangle of the drawer. Attach the front panel flush with and in between the side pieces of the drawer. The screw holes should be visible on the front and back side. Don't worry about how this looks now, the face of the drawer will eventually cover these holes.
Step 13: Finish the bottoms of the drawer. Glue and brad nail the bottom panel to the rectangular drawers.
Step 14: Next, cover any plywood end grain that is visible with the oak edge banding. This will be places like drawer top edges, drawer faces, and cabinet doors. To attach the edge banding, use a standard clothes iron to activate the glue to adhere to your material. Don't stress about keeping getting the edge banding exactly aligned; it's over-sized to allow for human error. Once the edges were set, I came back with a chisel to trim off any excess. I used a sanding block at an angle, sanding toward the work piece to feather the edges into the ends.
Step 15: With the drawers finished, install the drawer slides. I’d never done this before, so I was a little intimidated. I used a spacer board clamped to the side panels so the slides were consistent and parallel. Attach the slide to the inner cabinet with the screws provided. Once these were in, I took the spacer and used it as a shelf to stabilize the drawer while I placed the first few screws in the drawer, pulling it out slightly to access the next hole. After securing the drawer with two sets of holes, you can remove the spacer. Repeat this process for the remaining drawers.
Step 16: Install the cabinet doors. Follow the directions for the hinges. In our case, the concealed hinges required that I drill a small recess in the frame of the vanity for the bracket of the hinge to sit. I used a Forstner bit to get a flat bottom hole. Once the hinges are installed on the frame, set the cabinet doors in the opening and shim the doors until you have a constant gap around. In place of shims, I used playing cards which worked perfectly. Once the doors are pre-drilled and screwed to the hinges, you can use the dials on the hinges for any micro adjustments. One thing that made this step easier was marking the holes from behind before drilling.
Step 17: Install the drawer faces. Mark the center of the drawer faces where you want the drawer pulls to go, and pre-drill a hole through the face. Use this hole to temporarily screw the face to the drawer once it’s positioned. Starting from the bottom and working my way up, I used the same card trick as with the doors. After the face had a consistent gap, I drove a screw through the pre-dilled hole into the drawer. From here, open the drawer and permanently attach the face by driving screws from inside the drawer. Finally, remove the temporary screw. Repeat these steps until all the drawer faces are installed.
Step 18: Attach the top to the vanity using the L brackets. Place two brackets along the back and front and one along each side.
Step 19: Fill any visible pocket holes with glue and ⅜” dowel. Once dry, trim excess with a flush cut saw.
Step 20: Sand. Now that the vanity is built, remove the hinges and doors, and take out the drawer slides and drawers. Sand the vanity beginning with 120 grit sandpaper and working your way through to 220.
Step 21: Stain. Make sure you start with a clean surface. We used Minwax Dark Walnut stain. Apply the stain evenly to all surfaces, let sit 10-15 minutes, and then wipe off any excess. The longer it sits, the darker your stain will be.
Step 22: Once the stain is fully dried, apply finish to the vanity parts with the varnish of your choosing. (Again, we highly recommend a Spar Urethane.) Brush on as many coats as the varnish recommends, making sure to sand in between with 220 grit.
Step 23: Once the finish is fully dry, reassemble the vanity. Use the pre-drilled hole you used for the temporary screw, and drill through the front of the drawer box to secure your pulls. We used a combination square to lay out the cabinet pulls. Pre-drill and attach these as well.
Step 24: Add plumbing. With the vanity totally finished, figure out where you want the vessel sink and faucet. Drill holes according to the directions. We used a jig saw to widen the holes before attaching the faucet, followed by the drain pipe of the sink.
Step 25: Prepare bathroom for installation. Remove the old sink, patch any holes or repaint, and find and mark any studs in the wall where the vanity overlaps.
Step 26: Install the vanity. Depending on your house, this may be as simple as placing the vanity flush against the wall. Because of the baseboard and quarter round in our bathroom, the vanity would not sit flush with the wall. Once the vanity was positioned in the bathroom where we wanted it, I marked where the back legs met the wall. Using an oscillating multi tool, I cut a notch out of the baseboard for the vanity legs to sit closer to the wall.
Step 27: Level and anchor the vanity. Use shims on the back two legs to level the table and cut off any excess with a utility knife. Anchor the vanity to studs you marked out through the back supports.
Step 28: Connect the new faucet and sink. We were able to reuse the drain lines to the faucet, but had to get a universal drainpipe because the new sink sat higher than the old one. With a towel on the bottom panel, slowly check the faucet and drain for any leaks and adjust as needed.
Step 29: Enjoy your vanity! Phew. This project was a lot. Writing this post really showed just how much went into building this vanity. The whole project took about two weeks, one week where I was off of work and the other trying to squeeze in time after work and on the weekends. I gave myself the goal of completing it before celebrating our son's 2nd birthday (partly so I could show it off, but also because we needed the house put back together). That being said, I'm really satisfied with how it turned out. And I can say with confidence that the plumbing has held up over a year later.
-JP
What do you think? Are you ready to tackle this project? Let us know! 👇