Custom Bathroom Vanity Plans
When Bridget and I demo’d the bathrooms, we took a quick look around to see if there were any vanities available that fit our size and desired mid-century look. We pretty quickly assessed that there was not anything available that we wanted. I decided I would build a floating vanity in the en suite bathroom and a standing vanity in the guest bathroom that mimicked the look of the original vanities.
Both vanities were built from two pieces of stain grain birch plywood. The overall look of the vanity was straight forward, as I was able to duplicate the existing vanity. Each vanity had unique design challenges – one was floating and supported by two walls; and the other had to hide an air supply and support a stone countertop.
Building the vanity required the same steps as the desk build:
- Design
- Gathering materials
- Rough cuts
- Cut everything to final size & Joinery
- Dry fit
- Final glue up
- Sand, sand, sand
- Stain and finish
Design
When designing the vanities, I was able to look at the parts of the vanity being replaced to see how it all fit together. This greatly simplified my job as the designer. We wanted the en suite bathroom vanity to float in the room. there are technically two walls to use for supports – however the left wall is a pocket door. There were not studs to use for supports. This meant the back wall had to do the heavy lifting. Anytime there’s a lot of weight on a single wall, the French Cleat comes to mind. I also had to make sure all the joints were sufficiently strong enough to bear the weight of the countertop. This vanity was sized to match a countertop sink combo we purchased.
The guest bathroom vanity had three walls that could be used to support the counter top – a bit easier of a design. Gravity could do most of the work on this one, I just needed to ensure there was enough space in the toe kick for the duct work. The three walls were not a standard vanity size, so we opted to purchase a remnant piece of stone. The design of both vanities are very similar, so going forward I will reference only the floating vanity design and call out the differences with the other vanity. When I built these I had not yet learned google Sketch Up. I learned how to use it earlier this year and put together these drawings which show the final design.
Top, Front, Side, and Isometric View
Front & Top Detail View
Sides
Front and Back
Bottom, Drawer Front, and Doors
Gathering Materials
For both vanities I used Stain Grain Birch Plywood from my lumber yard, Heller Lumber. They are local and offer delivery at a great price. For anyone in the northwest Chicago suburbs, you can find their information here.
Rough Cuts
The next thing I did was cut the rough dimensions so things started to take shape. Always plan ahead of time to make the most use of your wood and get the grain in the desired direction. Pay particular attention to the wood that is going to be visible, the front doors in this case, and one of the side pieces. I always like to cut the doors together so the grain matches across the doors.
These cuts were made with the circular saw to cut all the pieces to the rough dimensions. Typically the rough cuts are made to the final dimensions for pieces such as the doors, bottom, front. I use this term as it’s the initial breaking down of the plywood into manageable pieces.
Cut to Final Size & Joinery
After aIl the pieces were rough cut, the final cuts were made. This was essentially just the angles for the sides, the French cleat for the back, and the opening of the front. I then used the router to install the Dados as required so everything fit together.
Dry Fit
The dry fit was a little tricky for this as there were lots of pieces that needed to fit into each other because of the Dados and how I designed the back. But it was a good feeling when everything went together smoothly. We were also able to put the vanity top on to make sure it looked good.
Final Glue Up
For the final glue up, I used some clamps and screws to hold everything together. I love clamps and believe you can never have enough. The screws only went to places that were not visible. Rather than use any pocket holes, I used some corner braces to ensure it was strong, as it was going to be floating.
Sand, sand, sand
When sanding ply wood, it is important not to over sand, the key is to remove any blemishes or burrs.
Stain and finish
I applied a pre-conditioner to the vanity which is made from birch plywood – I find this gives a better finish. Then I stained the color Bridget picked – Minwax Golden Pecan.
Final Notes
I didn’t go into the drawer at all here, but it was quite the process as it made it curve around the sink. I don’t have it modeled. Sorry! If you have any questions please feel free to reach out. I know this write up could be better and I will improve as we go. Going forward I hope to model first, and then build. I will try to take pictures along the way as well. The dimension are what I used, feel free to modify as needed! The next furniture project will be a blanket ladder and beer can display case (Bridget 2022 Christmas Gifts!!), followed by a headboard and nightstands for our bedroom. Thanks for reading!
