When we purchased our home, the whole place had been painted the same shade of grey. It was a sad attempt at making this sweet old home look trendy and new.
One of the first things I did was paint the hall and bathroom a creamy white. It helped a little, but the modern fixtures and flooring still didn’t fit with the age of the home or the style I love. And one of the hardest things to deal with was the minimal storage the vanity provided.
- How to Create a Custom Bathroom Vanity
- Stinging Nettles: April’s Herb of the Month
- How I’m Gardening Differently This Year
When my husband and I first got married, we received a beautiful dresser from my brother and his wife. It served us well to store our clothes for 4 years, but didn’t quite fit in our bedroom once we purchased our home. But I had bigger plans for it anyway.
How the Transformation Happened
With my husband still in a wheelchair, the easiest place for me to start on my own was the top. It had a little damage on the edges, and I first tried to pry off the faux finish top. It turns out it was not traditional veneer, so my plan had to change.
After sanding the top as smooth as I could get it, I applied 3 coats of paint and sealed with 3 coats of water-based polyurethane, sanding in between.
After finishing the top, it sat for a while before I worked some more. The next step was to modify the dresser for plumbing.
I started by removing the back panel and the top two drawers from the side that would hold the sink and faucet.
I originally planned to modify all three left drawers, but after measuring for the plumbing, we decided we could salvage the bottom drawer space.
Due to the simple construction of the dresser, removing the wooden drawer slides was no problem.
To make this open space useful, we converted the drawer faces to a door. We used construction adhesive to glue the drawer faces to a spare panel of wood, making sure to space them correctly.
The next time we worked on this project, we were ready to install. So after removing the old vanity, we marked and drilled holes for the sink and faucet, and then placed them.
Plumbing was an adventure, since our house is 85 years old and has cast iron pipes. Hooking up to the old plumbing was quite the task, but if your home is newer than mine, you should have fewer bumps along the way.
When the plumbing was done, all that was left was to place a shelf inside (which I did very quickly with a little spare wood we had laying around), and place the hinges for the door.
The hinges were placed on the bottom, and then two catches on the top to hold it shut.
I’ve obviously painted the bathroom again since placing the new vanity, but I think it’s the perfect piece to bring warmth to a space that was previously stale and boring.
Make sure you subscribe here and follow me on social media to stay up-to-date on home renovations and my day-to-day doings. We’re always up to something, so it’s sure to be a good time!
Thank you for visiting Headed for a Homestead Blog. I’m Rebekah, your creator and author since 2023. As a new blogger in this big space, I’m still learning the ropes, and just as excited as when I began. I hope you’ll take some time to look around and maybe find a recipe or project you’d like to try.
If you like what you’ve found, make sure you follow me on social media for access to more content and resources. I’d love to get to know you and hear your thoughts.
