I’ve always admired dressers converted into vanities. In our city bungalow there just wasn’t enough room in either bathrooms for a dresser-vanity, so when it came time to remodel the bathrooms in our current house I was happy to see there would be enough room in the master bath, but just barely.
It started out simple enough- we were exhausted after spending all our free time in the summer working on both baths, I had to go back to teaching in September, and we were trying to get our new garage weather-proofed before the winter set in. We thought we’d get to it in the winter when we’d have a covered garage to work in.
With the rest of the bathroom completely finished, a curious thing that can happen to do-it-yourselfers at one time or another happened:
When we finally got around to it a few months ago, we found it wasn’t that hard at all and didn’t take too much time.
This is what we started with: a $79 dresser from the Salvation Army that I had originally bought to be my nightstand. I thought I needed the storage, but really didn’t, so they sat empty. I sure hope you can score something cheaper, but I was looking for specific measurements, and you know how that goes. Plus, have I mentioned how expensive the thrift stores are here? OK, I’ll be quiet about it…
It wasn’t a fine antique, though, and needed to be painted and the top refinished. The slats separating the drawers had been replaced with a lighter color wood and both of the side panels had big cracks in them that needed to be filled.
The top had a major scratch (top left in this picture) that went all the way to the wood.
We just got a basic 16-inch model sink for this dresser. All the others were too big. We seriously considered a vessel sink, but with the new faucet would’ve cost about $250 instead of $100 (we’d already been using a new faucet).
3. Take a deep breath and cut it out with a jigsaw. It’s OK, you can do it…
4. Lay the sink in the opening and breath a sigh of relief when the sink fits in the hole.
No photos for these steps (poor planning…):
6. Using a water-based polyurethane (I like satin finish), apply 4 to 5 coats. Since this top had a short back piece, I made sure the joint between them was covered well so that no water from the sink would get between them.
7. When dry, run a bead of clear caulk (works much better with wood counters than white) around the rim of the opening and carefully place the sink right on top, pressing down lightly (you do not need to add caulk around the rim of the bowl after it’s in place- that’s a sure sign of a do-it-yourself job).
8. Set the vanity close to its eventual spot in order to measure where the plumbing hits on the back of the cabinet - after many DIY slip-ups, I don’t trust only measurements anymore- we use our eyes and measurements now- but this is just us, you don’t actually have to have it near it’s spot. Use a jigsaw to cut a square out of the back piece of wood large enough for all the plumbing to set in. Set the vanity in it’s permanent spot.
9. Attach the faucet and hook up all the plumbing with no drawers in place.
Each drawer will be treated differently:
Of course, if you have enough room for a dresser with three drawers on top, you’d lose the center drawer and still have two functional drawers. That would certainly be the easiest.
11. The middle drawer took the most finagling, but basically we (of course you’ve probably guessed that this part doesn’t really involve me…I’m using “we” merely to show my support) made a box to fit around the plumbing. This leaves plenty of space for toiletries.
12. The bottom drawer merely has a square cut out to skim around the drain pipe. This drawer lost no space at all.
UPDATE: My husband reminded me there is a step 13- secure to the wall! We found the studs and put a couple screws in so that the vanity is secure and not attached only by the plumbing. Because this dresser had an overhang in the back, we had to add a piece of wood to the back to allow it to touch the wall before screwing in, but not all dressers would need this.
And there you have a slightly stripped-down version of how to turn a dresser into a bathroom vanity.
I believe a cottage can be anywhere or anything (condo, ranch, farmhouse) as long as you have a "cottage mentality" which puts people above things, celebrates imperfections, embraces simplicity, and finds joy in everyday life. Thanks for joining me!
Oh ya, I hear you about how we tend to ‘not see’ imperfections and ‘unfinished’ projects after a while.
That vanity turned out wonderful.
I love that – especially the top drawer – what a great idea!
It turned out lovely. Thank you for the tutorial. I have been wanting to do this in one of our bathrooms and now I know how.
Jami this is wonderful! My hubby and I love the look of old dresser vanities and would love to try this someday. Thanks for sharing.
Totally beautiful! And I think if you wanted to, you could’ve replaced the top completely with a piece of granite, of course that might be getting expensive (like the claw foot tube)
I love how you “shabby chic’d” it. That’s my favorite look.
You did a great job on this! I love the finish
This is wonderful! I would love to feature it on my blog if you are interested let me know! ( you should be able to email me from this comment!)
Thanks
Oh thanks guys! You know how you wonder when you post something if this is anything anyone cares about? I did think that with this, so I’m so glad you found it helpful. I’ll look forward to seeing your transformations in the future.
Thanks, Remodelaholic- I’ll be emailing ya!
This is so cute! What a great idea.
I am looking for just the right dresser to do the same thing in my half bath. Thanks so much for going thru the steps. Now I will know what to expect.
Hey! Found your blog through Remodelaholic. Love your vanity dresser sink. Thank you so much for doing a tutorial! That makes it seem alot easier to plan once you see how its done. Good job!
Hi – Visiting from Remodelaholic. This is such a great tutorial, thanks for sharing. It looks fabulous.
And I totally can sympathize on the expensive thrift store complaint. I’m in the Seattle area and I’ve yet to find a good thrift shop with decent prices. All these thrifty blogs out there talk about $5 furniture discoveries… I’ve yet to see even the most lowly of furniture pieces marked at $5 in this area. Guess we are doomed to pay top dollar for second hand stuff, right?!
I’ve never seen this type of vanity before and LOVE it! I so want one in my bathroom now. We’re remodeling our home to, so this is totally doable. Thanks for sharing this!
I hope you don’t mind, I shared this post on my Facebook page.
LOVE IT! Thanks for sharing your great directions too & linkin’ up at the POPP.
jami,
found you via maryann @ domestically-speaking. love the dresser turned vanity. thanks so much for the tutorial/how to. i have been wanting to do this for several years and it looks like we may get to the main bath remodel this next month. (crossing my fingers) we purchased a clawfoot tub, will use the old wall hung sink from upstairs bathroom…sort of like a vessel sink. thanks for the pointers!
and yes, thrift stores are getting way too expensive!
judi
the1829farmhouse.blogspot.com
I’m going to be looking for your guys’ future posts on your dresser-vanities.
Anissa- yes, yes- so irritates me how the thrift stores are all trying to be “collectables” now. I mean, I know most of them are charities, but they’d sell a lot more stuff if their prices were decent. I think the west coast (and maybe east?) are pricier- I’ve been to some in the midwest and I was shocked with how low their prices were!
April- Not at all- thanks for sharing!
Judi- we actually bought an old wall sink to use as a vessel on this dresser, but it turned out the finish was too far gone so it’s becoming a garden sink. Yours will look great, I’m sure.
Oh Gosh, I love this and will keep this link in my inspiration folder. I’ve been planning to do something like this for our master bath re-do, that is if we ever get around to starting!
Rose
Thank you for these great instructions and photos!
Quick question. How has the wood held up as a vanity counter top? I’ve read other places people recommending using marble as a top because of water splashing, etc. but of course that increases the price.
The wood looks the same as the day we installed it- that polyurathane is amazing stuff! We had wood counters in our kitchen for three years in our other house and I thought they held up well. It’s easy to just give another coat of poly on any areas that need it as well. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for coming by my blog and commenting on my vanity I love yours I think I like this idea better than buying a store bought one – besides its green!
I don’t know if you are still checking this or not – but I just wanted to thank you for the step by step tutorial! My husband and I bought a major ‘handyman special’ house that we are gutting room by room. The house was built in 1890 and I have been searching for a vanity for the full bath upstairs and have not been able to find anything that ‘speaks’ to me. The bathroom vanities on the market are either too modern or too expensive for our house. I just LOVE this idea and now I am off to the antique and thrift stores…….
Lorrie- I do, and thanks for letting me know that this is helpful to you! I hope you find what you’re looking for, it sounds like it would be the perfect solution for your house (which sounds fabulous, btw!).
Hi Jami,
Love it. We are in the process of doing this maybe tomorrow. Just one more question…did you have to cut out the back of the dresser for the plumbing?
Oh dear- I hope I’m not too late! I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 years since I posted this and you’re the first to catch that I forgot to mention cutting out the back for the plumbing! Ugh. I added the step in the post (thanks!) and yes- we cut out a large square that was big enough for all the plumbing to fit in when the cabinet was flush with the wall.
Hope that helps and that yours turns out great!
Ooooh!! This is so cool!! There has been this dresser sitting at the Salvation Army for over a month now… It has a matching mirror. Both are painted this fascinating yellow color – like the kind that might make your eyes bleed when you wake up first thing in the morning & see it there. Can’t wait to head back with my tape measure! Thanks so much!
I just love your vanity. Both my wife and I had the same idea, but never told each other until recently. Your post is exactly what we had in mind! In France, we can find sink-cum-countertops in Castorama or Leroy Merlin (our equivalent of B&Q) so I was thinking of buying a cheap second-hand dresser with no top or negotiate the price of a piece of furniture with a damaged top. We shall see what we find! Thanks again for the inspiration.