What did I do with a whole week off?

I struggled. I mean, really struggled, to complete the semi-secret bathroom vanity project. It's not done yet...but I might as well share some progress so the week does not feel like a total loss.

The idea, which you might remember, came from an Anna White tutorial. I have dreamed of building a step into the vanity ever since my fantasy of getting a console sink (so a stool could just tuck under it) died*. I have to work with what I have. A stunning (not) MDF vanity with an aftermarket granite top.

Okay, so back to Anna White. Her vanity had a larger toe kick, I think. But, regardless, I needed more step. My peanut is, well, a peanut. She needs a good 12" leg up to reach the faucet. And will, well, for a few more years. Let's just say she's not rocketing up the growth curve. Anyway, the project...I decided to take the cabinet part of the vanity and replace it with drawers, the bottom one being built to hold 50+ lbs and have a closed top; i.e., a step.

The way we tackled this is to have my dad build a box at home (where his tools live). The box would slide into our cabinet opening, but be only as deep as the plumbing junk would allow. Behold the box during install (day 1):

Why the box? Beyond being easier to build and fit the drawers in all in his shop, my dad thought the drawer holding the step would be sturdier if screwed into real wood, rather than just the MDF wall of the existing cabinet. Smart man.

After installation of the box and a dry fit of the drawers, I removed all the faces and went to the basement to prime and paint. My bathroom looked like this for a few days:

How did I paint: I first deglossed, then primed, then put 3 light coats of Benjamin Moore Matte finish paint (Iron Gate is the color), sanding between coats. I put a satin varnish on the top of the step only, but if the matte finish paint fails to hold up, I can always seal the whole shebang. I'm kind of in love with the matte finish, though, so fingers are crossed it cures well and is durable.

Here's where we stand now.

Stunning, right? Yeah. And will totally rock once we manage to get the drawer fronts cut to the right size. Install Day 2 was us discovering that the first batch, which I lovingly painted, was too short. Install Day 3 was us discovering that the second batch, which I also lovingly painted, was too thick.

Yeah, we are thinking that we will do a dry fit on batch 3 before I, um, lovingly paint.

*I can't find the link where I may have mentioned this, but the hall bath is held together with chewing gum and baling wire, it seems. Greg, my former contractor, let me know that it would be very unwise to go removing things like mirrors or vanities or floors or wainscoting without the budget to go down to the studs and back up again. Ummm? No. So, that's why the hall bath renovation dreams of 2010 became the hall bath refresh of 2011. You get what you get and you don't complain.

Comments

[Kitchen Cabinet Remodeling]

Best of luck to you guys in your renovations. I think you're doing an excellent job.