Bathroom Makeover with Vintage Dresser Vanity

Bathroom Makeover with Vintage Dresser Vanity

Welcome back everyone.  Today we’re in my middle son’s house tackling this small bathroom you see on the above right.  The closet on the left will also come into play as  we will be stealing a couple of feet from it to create a larger more  modern bath.

My son has a fairly large house and this is what he and his wife are using as their primary bath.  It’s tiny.  It has room for a small vanity, a corner shower and the toilet and nothing else.

I’m trying to get a full picture of the bath but I’m running into the wall and the door.

Is this shot any better?  You can almost see the toilet.

I can’t give you a DIY on the construction of the shower or any plumbing …my job was the vanity.  I’m just including the full bath photos so if you have a similarly small bath that is in need of help you may be able to get a few ideas.

For the vanity, we’re starting with this beautiful Facebook Marketplace dresser or buffet.  It’s a beautiful solid oak piece that unfortunately I’m going to have to paint. It’s still going to be beautiful, I assure you, just blue. 😆 

The paint for this project was DecoArt Chalky Finish in Colonial Blue finished with a clear wax.

The left edge of the old vanity on the right  (the one with an X) is where the old bathroom ended.  The new wall has been pushed back a couple of feet into the existing closet.

With the new sink and countertop, the top center drawer will now be nonfunctioning.  This is the weird cut to allow this now faux drawer to go around the sink.

The back of the dresser had to be carved out to go around all of the bathroom pipes.

Two of the center drawers also had to be modified to  go around those pipes.  The bottom center drawer could remain intact.

Measure and mark the drawers to be modified.

Cut out the drawer where you’ve marked.

Can you see the edge of the saw blade poking thru?  I placed the drawer on top of the table saw to cut the drawer bottoms.

Rebuild the drawer with plywood following the cutout.  These were nailed and glued to secure.  Sand the edges.

If you turn the drawer over, this is what is left of the drawer guide. It is not enough to keep the drawer aligned when opening and closing.

We had to purchase and install side drawer guides for the rebuilt drawers..

Try to ignore that top left drawer.  I didn’t notice when I took the picture that it was off it’s guide.

The newly redesigned bathroom looks so much larger and more functional than the original bath with new lighting, new mirror, faucets and towel rack not to mention the entire shower area.

I couldn’t get back far enough to include the toilet which is still tucked in the front right corner.

The top was a prefab marble countertop purchased on the internet such as this one.  You could also choose the double sink but the happy homeowners opted for more counter space. With a double sink, they also would have lost more drawer space.

Couldn’t leave you without a final before and after.  Hard to believe it’s the same bath.

Until next time, stay inspired.

You can find the last bathroom update we did in their house here. Make sure you click on the link, this one has a great before and after too. If you’re willing to do the work, you can add a lot of value to your home.

They have one more bathroom in their house that just might need a refresh as well.

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